Esther
“Dropped Karl’s bags on his doorstep and he thanked me later on for his ‘middle-class care package’! I guess he does have a point, Cavelo Nero, olives and Manchego being among the items I bought!”
Female, 59 year old, divorced but in a relationship, works part time in a school in Wales that educate key worker children during the pandemic, two grown up children, Karl and Lauren.
Esther
“Dropped Karl’s bags on his doorstep and he thanked me later on for his ‘middle-class care package’! I guess
he does have a point, Cavelo Nero, olives and Manchego being among the items I bought!”
Background Information
Female, 59 year old, divorced but in a relationship, works part-time in a school in Cardiff, Wales that
educate key worker children during the pandemic. Two grown up children, Karl and Lauren. Lives at
home with Lauren.
March
Sunday 22nd March
Today felt like a relatively normal Sunday - Karl came for lunch and a walk, but strictly speaking we should
probably not have had him over as households are not supposed to be mixing. Very glad we did, though, as
this evening we all decided that we couldn’t do that again for the foreseeable future - important that we stick
to our own households, sadly. Despite social distancing guidelines, people across the UK have been flocking
to the Great Outdoors - bringing Snowdonia, Gower, Peak District, National Trust gardens etc beyond over-
capacity. Locals to those areas very unhappy about the influx of outsiders, potentially bringing the virus with
them. Sarah (niece) arrived back from Australia today, having cut her planned trip to NZ and Vietnam short
- just in the nick of time, she and friends got one of the last flights to London out of Perth. Huge relief for Erik
and Angela.
Monday 23rd March
Last Friday, 13th, was the last day of school as we know it for the time being. From today, schools are open
only for the children of key workers - both parents have to fall into this category. Rebecca has created a rota
for all staff able to work - i.e. those who are well and not having to self-isolate for any other reasons, such as
a vulnerable family member. At Academy we had ten children and twelve adults , the atmosphere was very
much holiday club and social distancing measures were largely overlooked. I had an 8am - 12 noon shift,
most of which was spent on phone duty in the office. A few calls regarding key worker
status (Quikfit, really?!) and children’s eligibility plus clarification of the system for FSM families to collect their
lunches.
This evening the Prime Minister introduced strict new guidelines which go far beyond social distancing.
Everyone is to stay at home, only to go out for shopping (as infrequently as possible, get home delivery if you
can), medicines, for work (if entirely necessary) and for one hour of exercise per day. We are now in
lockdown, along with much of the rest of the world.
Tuesday 24th March - Lockdown Day 1
Rebecca has cancelled my office shift today as it is so quiet. Much more evidence of people adhering to the
PM’s rules today - another beautiful sunny day, but people doing their exercise in ones and twos (same
household only) and adhering as much as possible to social-distancing rules. Cycled to Castle, visited Andy’s
bench, tried to find some Calpol for Sandy in but none to be had. Only one person at a time allowed into the
chemist’s, staff wearing some PPE, gloves and face masks. Luckily, Lauren found some Calpol and fun bits
for Sandy at Tescos. Felt better for cycle ride, although did get yelled at by an elderly lady who waved her
walking stick at me menacingly shouting “Six feet! Six feet!” I was doing my best to snuggle in to the side of
the cycle path and had given her a lovely smile! Lots of memes doing the rounds on WhatsApp which is
keeping us amused and entertained. Wrote to Athena, Tamara and Michael, old fashioned snail post, which
as yet is unaffected by the new measures.
Wednesday 25th March
Another beautiful day and still feels a little bit like an early Easter holiday. The garden is beautiful, getting
jobs done around the house, going out for long walks and cycle rides. Sanity in tact. Reorganised the sitting
room furniture today and a bit of a reshuffle in the kitchen and study. Lauren and Karl met for a cycle ride.
We think it is okay to do this - to meet outside on bikes and remain at a distance. Walked via Jesse’s to do
a book swap and to borrow a cycle helmet so that Lauren and I can cycle together sometimes. Spoke to Erik
in his hotel room this evening - he has moved out because Elsie was displaying symptoms and is offered free
alternative accommodation by the NHS. Unfortunately, he developed a fever last night and has been advised
to stay off work for the stipulated seven days, so he plans to move back home tomorrow. Ironic, but at least
he gets to spend time with his family - Sarah only just back from Australia - and to have
his birthday at home on Saturday.
Thursday 26th March
Second shift in the Academy School office. Nice to be doing something relatively normal to break the week
up and to be doing something to ‘help’. Only six children today, so some rota-ed staff sent home. Lovely to
see friends and colleagues, everyone in good spirits. Much more organisation today and attempts to social
distance both staff and children, still largely a holiday club atmosphere. This is set to change next week -
Rebecca, Flo and Cath very busy organising school as a hub from Monday, including important conference
calls to Director of Education and cluster heads. Collected a desk from Stephanie en route to school - she
left it on the doorstep and we stayed well apart - in order for us to set up an office space at home. This
evening we joined Weybridge, Radwinter and briefly Karl’s house via Zoom (plus 93,000 others) for a live
Pub Quiz. Good fun, beaten by Weybridge!
The most amazing nationwide event took place at 8pm this evening - we all stood on our doorsteps and
applauded the NHS. It was heart-warming and very emotional, they thoroughly deserve it.
Friday 27th March
Waitrose - a strange experience. Long social distanced queues around the car park and people let in by
security guards in twos. Mostly well stocked, but hardly any toilet rolls (this is common place now following
panic buying over the last couple of weeks) and absolutely no hand sanitiser to be had for love nor money -
this is also nationwide, and possibly worldwide at the current time. No flour on the shelves. Got what we
needed, plus some goodies for Karl and a couple of bits for Doris, elderly neighbour. Dropped Karl’s bags
on his doorstep and he thanked me later on for his ‘middle-class care package’! I guess he does have a
point, Cavelo Nero, olives and Manchego being among the items I bought! Don’t plan to go to a large
supermarket again soon, will continue to get the odd bits from our local Coop, but far less frequently than
usual. All shops now offering an opening hour for vulnerable and older citizens, all controlling numbers of
people in the shop, many marking out safe distance zones around tills. Lovely walk this afternoon, variation
on my usual river/canal/Taff Trail and continued with the Tobermory puzzle.
Saturday 28th March
Bacon bagels to mark the weekend and to ‘celebrate’ a week in lockdown. Very aware how lucky we are -
beautiful home, space, garden, walks on our doorstep - and need to remember those on the frontline in the
NHS and those under lockdown in flats with no outside space, etc. Many playgrounds are locked. Police
have the power to disperse, move on, send home, groups of more than two in public - some groups of youths
still flouting this important law. Very impressed with how Lauren is coping - uncomplaining, counting her
blessings, putting up with me! Erik’s birthday - Jones family Zoom chat, sang Happy Birthday to Erik and had
a good catch-up, lovely to see everyone. Clocks go forward one hour tonight.
Sunday 29th March
Woke early after insufficient sleep and felt out of sorts all day. Visited some virtual travel and tourist sites -
Buckingham Palace, Chester Zoo, Northern Lights, Jerusalem! Tricky day, but need to get through this, so
must come up with some further strategies to keep myself well and easy to live with, for G’s sake. Made and
froze a batch of shepherd’s pie to keep freezer topped up for future use. Enjoying first lockdown book, When
all is Said, Christmas present from Lauren.
Monday 30th March
Set up the small bedroom as a study - and it proves to be a lovely quiet, light space to work, with a view!
Drew up a rough timetable to give my days some structure, which I think will be helpful. Planned to collect a
newspaper on my walk, to do the puzzles, but as Lauren quite rightly said, that is not an essential visit to the
village, so decided against it. Will get a paper only when shopping for food or other bits that we actually
need. Day one of the Academy Hub School - sent a message of support to Rebecca (Headtecher) and
apparently all is going well. It has been an enormous administrative and practical undertaking for the SLT,
twelve primary schools are using the site. Latest financial support package from the government helps self-
employed workers to keep their heads above water through this and the impending financial struggle to follow.
Billions of pounds have been made available to support people who find themselves out of work, having to
shut down businesses or who have been furloughed, like Karl - ie temporary suspension of employment. Karl
will be paid up to 80% of his earnings from XXXX for the foreseeable future. Just another of the enormous
undertakings being promised, organised and rolled-out by government. At the current time, several of the
Cabinet, including the PM, have a mild form of Covid 19, as does the Prince of Wales.
We are told that the UK is still on an upward climb towards the expected peak, both in terms of cases and
deaths - which are accounted for on all forms of media very regularly throughout each day. Many people
have stopped looking at the news, most are resisting the temptation to make constant checks on phones etc,
as has become the norm in recent years. Enormous and understandable concern for the nation’s mental
health through this crisis and beyond, lots of advice and online distractions to help people who are feeling
anxious, as most of us are.
Tuesday 31st March
Live Pilates with Cassandra at 10am! Thoroughly enjoyed it and, all things considered, it felt remarkably
‘normal’ in terms of Cassandra’s voice and teaching. Zoom has proved to be immensely helpful and useful
at this time. Missing the sound of Radio 4 droning on in the background, but on trying it this morning, it was
the inevitable chat about lack of PPE for frontline workers and the impact of Covid 19 on our lives and
livelihoods, so switched off again. Unfortunately, even podcasts have a coronavirus focus at the moment -
there is no escape. Jigsaw puzzle number one is beginning to take shape, but a slow and frustrating process,
I had forgotten just how much so! It should do me some good, but in fact plays on my mind and requires
constant fiddling whenever I walk past it on the kitchen table. Hopefully Erik is well enough to go back to
work today. Sarah is waiting to hear where she is to be placed in a hospital - much earlier than expected -
in order to support the NHS. She, along with all other final year medical students are to start work months
earlier than planned to support the existing NHS staff, who are clearly under immense pressure. Many NHS
workers self-isolating because they may have Covid-19, there is a great need for some sections of society to
be tested so that they know whether they can work or not. Jayne’s company (sister-in-law) is among many
others researching and making testing kits for mass use. Lauren and I have promised to deliver food parcels
and meals to Sarah’s doorstep if she is needed back in Cardiff, which I think in many ways is Erik’s preference
for her, London being such a hotspot for the virus. Lauren and I have also individually registered with the
local Volunteer Service which has sprung up, as in most other localities across the UK to support the elderly,
vulnerable and housebound in particular. We have offered to do shopping and dog walking and Lauren has
made herself available for childcare, should anyone need it. The majority of the population who are in work
are now working from home - many of Lauren’s friends envy her free time, especially when the weather is
nice. But in reality, those of us who are unable to work from the house envy the structure and pattern that
work gives to their days and weeks - we are keeping busy, but it can be very hard to
maintain morale, and it hits us at different times. Again, thank goodness I have Lauren at home and thank
goodness for social media, which keeps us all in touch - even Athena is having video calls with the boys with
some success - extraordinary! Jim is the only one of the boys visiting Athena at the current time, but he stays
in the garden and they chat through the opened patio doors. Poor Athena, yet another difficult and stressful
period to get through, as if she hasn’t had enough to deal with. Popped up to the Coop today for bread and
milk and some fruit - had to wait outside the door to be let in and the shop floor is demarcated into two metre
zones which must be respected. The shop staff are remarkably cheery and resilient, we are very grateful to
them all for keeping local shops and supermarkets open.
April
Wednesday 1st April
Dreamt about freedom last night - sitting on a bench in a lovely open space chatting about dishwashers (?)
with XXXX! Mornings are now structured with Spanish lesson, diary writing, catching up with WhatsApp
messages, etc, coffee break with Lauren, a domestic chore - or in the case of today, home hair dye - then
lunch with Lauren. I have given up on buying a newspaper, it definitely isn’t essential, and I have lost interest
in the Suko and other puzzles for the time being. Finally found a box set that interests me - Damages,
Channel 4, US drama starring Glenn Close and Rose Byrne, series one so far very good - and although the
TV doesn’t tend to go on until late pm/early evening, it is good to lose myself in that for a couple of hours
each day. Struggling to concentrate on a whole film for some reason, but that has been the case for a few
months. Nevertheless, we have decided to keep Amazon Prime and Netflix going - along with BT we have
a vast array of choice, which is good to have, now more than ever. Local Garden Centre are donating lots
of plants to school, for planting and giving to staff and children of key workers to take home - a lovely gesture.
Garden centres are having to dump tonnes of produce and expressing concern at how their businesses will
pick up after the crisis. In support and in order to plant up the veg box as a little cottage garden, I bought
some plants from Crocus nursery online, which should be here by the end of the month. Extraordinary sight
this afternoon - Mickey Mouse paraded along the road, waving to folk, followed by a white transit van blasting
music out of a loudspeaker - the carnival has come to town! Very funny sight, enjoyed it with neighbours
standing on the pavement opposite. Lauren discovered via a local Facebook page that this local guy, one of
our close neighbours in fact, is donning different outfits on different days and walking the
streets to cheer children up - another kind community gesture, despite a few comments of ‘unnecessary
travel and driving to walk’ etc. April Fools pranks very much frowned upon this year, for obvious reasons.
Lauren has organised a family quiz for our Zoom meeting tomorrow evening, so each household has been
trying to come up with appropriate questions - easier said than done! Jim intends to get Athena involved
somehow, hopefully she will manage to listen in and be a part of it.
Thursday 2nd April
Continuing efforts to get sufficient testing kits out to hospitals and surgeries in order to test frontline staff -
many are self-isolating with symptoms, but may be clear and able to return to work. Tens of thousands of
former NHS employees have returned to work to help in the mammoth effort. Enormous spaces are being
turned into temporary Nightingale hospitals, providing thousands of extra intensive care beds for when the
outbreak reaches its peak and beyond. The army and medical staff have achieved in days what would
normally take months. Spaces include the Excel Centre in London’s Docklands, the Millennium Stadium here
in Cardiff and the Scarletts’ rugby ground in Llanelli. We hear that the local volunteer group have had eighty
offers to volunteer, which doesn’t sound many, particularly as between us we know several others who have
signed up. But we need to remember that lots of people have legitimate reasons for not signing up - young
families at home, vulnerable people in the household, teachers and others working from home, the elderly,
NHS workers, and so on. We will be contacted if anyone requests help in our locality. Lauren has heard
from her supply agency that she should qualify for a furlough payment, based upon average earnings since
she joined them, so this is good news. Morgan Zoom meet-up this evening to play the Great Morgan Quiz
organised by G - Si, Pete and J took it very seriously and set very specific questions from Morgan holidays
decades ago, which put Karl, Lauren and I at a slight disadvantage!! Good fun though and a promise to meet
again same time, same place, for another activity, thinking hats on! We joined our neighbours at 8pm to
applaud the NHS, good turnout again and it feels an important thing to do - there were even fireworks from
the other side of the railway line.
Friday 3rd April
Officially the last day of the Spring Term, but in fact just another lockdown Friday … Online Pilates with
Cassandra at 10am, this has been Cassandra’s second ‘trial’ and free lesson, from next week she is doing
two live lessons per week, paid, via Zoom - have signed up for both. After my walk, had
a lovely video catch-up with Cari - really good to see her and to have a ‘proper’ meet, although we have kept
closely in touch with messages of support, information and humour. Eddie is stuck in Berlin, bored but well,
she feels a long way away and that it will be some months before she can see him. Mike is working on uni
assignments from home, as Karl said, he is self-isolating in his bedroom, but that is quite normal! Neil
awaiting a call from the BBC to produce his next programme, fitting the ethernet cable (loudly, to Cari’s
annoyance) as we spoke.
Saturday 4th April
Decided to treat the next two weeks as actual school holidays - which they should have been - so emptied,
cleaned and painted the downstairs loo, using the dark blue paint from the new ensuite. Looks very different,
really love it. Tried listening to an audio book whilst I worked, The Blood Orange, enjoyable to listen to - then
discovered I have it on my bookshelf in my waiting pile, so will sign out of audiobooks after my free month’s
trial and read it myself!
Sunday 5th April
Visitors!! Karl and Billy cycled up and we had a lovely chat at the front door, two metres apart - beautiful
sunny day, worked really well. So lovely to see Karl and to spend a little time with Billy who is hilarious.
Delighted that Karl has such great mates to spend this time with - they are actually enjoying this time and
definitely making the most of it and looking after themselves well. Yoga each morning, walks and bike rides,
films and video games etc, plus delicious meals, lots of meal planning going on, very domesticated! Shared
some green recycling bags with them, as they have been unable to get any, and gifted them two cans of
Waitrose lentils, we have far too many! The boys were most appreciative of their iced squash and cereal
bars, albeit that was the extent of our hospitality! It is very noticeable outside that people are still having
‘weekends’ - public spaces are much busier. On the positive side, I have seen so many more walkers and
cyclists than normal, plus whole families having adventures down at the river and really enjoying the outdoors.
However, still much concern re people gathering in public spaces and not adhering to the rules - the
government have threatened to ban walks etc if this is an ongoing problem as the success of containment
and protecting the NHS and other vulnerable members of society depends entirely upon all of us following
the rules. This is an enormous concern - the thought of not being able to go out to exercise fills me with
horror. It seemed strange to me that Saturdays and Sundays felt so different until I
remembered that most people are still working (from home in the majority of cases) and therefore still living
the seven day week, which is much less demarcated for households like ours. The Queen addressed the
nation this evening - enormous gratitude to front line workers (NHS, emergency services, shop keepers, food
distributors, pharmacists, etc) and a very solemn plea to the nation to follow the guidelines for everyone’s
sake. She didn’t actually say it, but #stayathome is the message. She spoke of the hardship being endured
by so many people, the challenges of not seeing loved ones and being stuck at home with young children.
She finished by saying that we will return to a normality, we will meet again. Much comparison with war time
restrictions and so on - not the same, obviously, but The Queen’s message really did underline the gravity of
the situation, if we weren’t already sufficiently aware.
Monday 6th April
Main news today is that the PM, Boris Johnson, has been admitted to hospital for ‘routine tests’ to determine
his inability to shake the virus off - continuing temperature amongst other symptoms. His partner, who is
pregnant with their first child, is also displaying symptoms, what a horrible time for them. Lauren is preparing
to embark on her first shopping trip since lockdown, preps and excitement for Tesco are almost equivalent
to a night out with friends in normal times! Pilates class this morning, in the sitting room, conservatory doors
open, overlooking the trees - lovely. The sunny weather is continuing, the conservatory makes a lovely
reading room. Lauren did her workout in the garden today, neither of us wants the daily walk to become a
chore, so mixing it up. Caught up with another friends this afternoon via Zoom - we both agreed that if nothing
else, this period of time has taught us that we are not yet ready to retire, although we are both keeping busy,
we miss the variety of normal life, the company of other people and, for me at least, the spontaneity of trips
to the coast etc.
Tuesday 7th April
Headline news today is that the PM has been moved to Intensive Care in St Thomas’ Hospital, causing great
concern. It has left me, and many others, feeling quite shaken - we look to him each evening via TV for
guidance, reassurance and leadership. It suddenly feels as if we are at sea without a helmsman. Zoom chat
with our new virtual coffee group, really lovely to see them all and to catch up. Good for the spirits to see
people, even virtually, makes such a difference, we will make it a regular occasion. Elsie is twenty-one
today, not quite the birthday she had planned, but it sounds as if she has had a fun day
at home with the family and no doubt she will pick up on the celebrations once things get back to normal.
Our card and present arrived, the post may be a little slower at the current time, but we haven’t noticed it -
the GPO workers are another group for whom we should be very grateful. The same goes for the bin men,
who are still turning up each Monday to empty all the bins, thankfully, the only change being that they come
later in the day and all the rubbish (black bin, green recycling bags and food waste) goes in the same truck.
The warm weather continues, unusually high temperatures for this time of year.
Wednesday 8th April
A lovely productive morning in the garden weeding the beds and watering pots, listening to Table Manners
with Emily Maitliss. Without any mental effort, a completely mindful experience, much needed. Stayed out
of the sun for much of the afternoon, temperatures here reached 22 degrees and the sun felt extremely hot.
Went to Waitrose late pm to top up Lauren’s shop and to see us over the Easter weekend and beyond - a
good time of day to go in terms of numbers of shoppers, but less choice than earlier in the day. Nevertheless,
got nearly everything we needed. Toilet rolls were plentiful, flour and yeast shelves are decimated, everyone
is making their own bread. Tinned beans and pulses are in very short supply - plenty of tinned lentils and
sweetcorn, very little else. I wasn’t sure if it was ‘okay’ to drive all the way over to Waitrose when Asda,
Coop, Tesco etc are so much closer, almost felt guilty driving on the near empty roads. Considered what
would happen if I was pulled over, as is happening at the moment, to be asked if my drive was essential.
Yes, we are allowed out to get food and essential supplies, but should I be going local? Many people we
know are shopping weekly, some much more frequently, so hopefully our once every two/three weeks
supermarket trip is okay and not putting anyone at greater risk. The PM is said to be improving, he remains
in intensive care receiving oxygen via a face mask and has not required the use of a ventilator.
Thursday 8th April
Light summer duvets last night for the warmest night of the year so far - slept well and woke up feeling
refreshed. Pilates this morning and Morgan Zoom meet-up later - a regular Thursday! Very hot day, read,
watched some TV, sat in the garden. Had a cool bike ride late pm, as I rode who should I meet but Minnie
Mouse! Was aware that someone was taking photos of Minnie, had no idea that it was all being filmed.
Lovely time to go out, met ex-pupil and his mum on route and had a catch-up - son
applying for drama college, couldn’t be more surprised but fantastic to know that he is confident and happy.
Friday 9th April - Good Friday
Cycled early to avoid queueing for Boots - Lauren needed some ibuprofen gel for a workout-injured sore
neck. It was busier than I had expected, various independent shops open, including a bakers, butchers,
greengrocers and a diy/toiletries shop - queues outside each. Third in the line for Boots, which opened up
at 9.30am, three pharmacists and one lady running the checkout and the door. We were let in three at a time
and from then on it was a one out, one in system. Hand sanitiser is back on the shelves and was not limited,
paracetamol was on the shelves, but limited to one pack per customer. Lovely bike ride, nice to be out before
most people were doing their daily exercise. The down side was that by the end of the day, I was desperate
to go out again, but couldn't because of lockdown rules - we are only allowed out once a day for exercise for
up to one hour. Very sunny warm afternoon reading in the garden (book two, Blood Orange).
Saturday 10th April
Reading/knitting/podcasting sitting in the shade in the garden. Rang Ashley and Athena - both on their own
at home, but both with dogs which helps them both enormously. Pleasant early evening walk, circuit around
the park, busier than I had expected - I think a lot of people without young children are saving their walks up
until the evening, tend to see families with young children out earlier in the day, unsurprisingly, children
needing fresh air and exercise. Jenny (opposite) told me that I was in a piece online about Minnie Mouse,
so Lauren and I had a laugh watching that through, me waving to Minnie from my bike at the top of the road.
Lauren had a long zoom catch up with US and UK friends and it did her the world of good!
Sunday 11th April - Easter Sunday
Lauren up early, still smiling from her catch-up with friends last night - very positive and happy, lovely!
Brought me breakfast in bed, what a treat, and I had a lazy start. Hoovered up lots of flies and cobwebs in
the conservatory, finished my book, walked up to the Coop for some bread, milk and bits. Had a long phone
chat with Karl - they are cooking leg of lamb today, mint sauce, the works, proper Easter Sunday lunch.
Lauren and I plan to do BBQ kebabs and to light the fire pit later. Karl and friends also busy spring cleaning
their living room and reorganising furniture, so domesticated! Overcast today but still warm, quite oppressive,
but not sure that we are expecting any rain soon, just a cooling off from tomorrow. Great
news from Downing St - Boris is out of hospital and on his way to Chequers to recuperate for at least a couple
of weeks. He has praised the NHS to the hilt for saving his life and for all that they do and made a special
mention of some of his medical staff in a Twitter video (one young female nurse from Invercargill, my nearest
town when I lived in NZ) - very heartfelt and honest. Have suggested to Karl that the new NHS logo should
be Need Higher Salaries and that we do some guerrilla graffiti under railway arches and the like to spread
the word!! Lauren and I had a lovely evening in the garden, eating, drinking wine, chatting, playing
Bananagrams and cards and sitting around the fire pit.
Monday 12th April - Bank Holiday Monday - Day 21
Obviously every day is a BH at the moment - but still trying to differentiate the days/weeks for the sake of
sanity and positivity. Today is the start of the second week of the Easter holidays - and we would have been
in the Airbnb in Ilfracomb now, had things been normal (and had I got the dates right …) According to the
calendar, some friends should be going to Amsterdam this week. News this morning reports that some
lockdown measures are being lifted in Italy and Spain, including some manufacturing workers returning to
work for the sake of the economy - it feels too early though, from here. In China (where the outbreak began
in the city of Wuhan) many restrictions (maybe all?) are lifted and life is supposedly returning to normal -
however, this has coincided with more than one hundred deaths from Covid-19 in the last twenty-four hours,
following several days of no deaths. With transport hubs opening up over there, this must be cause for
concern. There is still much discussion in the UK re how/when we will come out of lockdown. Mark Drakeford,
First Minister of Wales, has made it clear that the lockdown will not be ending any time soon in Wales. His
stance tends to be much firmer and clearer than the Westminster government - eg Wales passed laws
preventing gatherings etc quite early on. The government, currently being led by Dominic Raab whilst the
PM is recovering, are being clear in their daily briefings (in my opinion) but slightly more cautious in terms of
‘giving anything away’ or raising people’s hopes ahead of time. We are in this now, I feel that we have to
stay in it for as long as is necessary, and maybe a little bit longer - caution is key, I believe. It isn’t easy
keeping spirits up all the time, some days feel significantly easier than others. On some days I just feel
‘numb’ to it all - it’s a coping mechanism of sorts and just getting through each day is an achievement some
of the time. Change in the weather today - high winds continuing from overnight, sunny spells, much cooler.
Did a QiGong class this morning, one that was posted on Facebook. I love the philosophy behind it, Chinese
medicine, moving chi (energy) around the body, it is both invigorating and relaxing. I
love the connection with the earth and being at one with nature - being kind to trees at the moment on my
walks! I love some of the movements, slow arms bringing focus down into the feet and the ground, but at
times, it is very slow for me and I find it hard to focus - no doubt practise and mindfulness will help, but
perhaps I will take bits from this and from Pilates and that will become my workout. Lovely walk in the late
afternoon sun taking in bits of the canal, river, northern meadows, the park etc. Messaged Anne to see if
she was at the allotment for a quick chat over the fence, but she was at home on a video call to Rhys and
Rebecca. Rebecca messaged to inform hub staff that a child from a different school attending the Academy
Hub had tested positive for Covid-19 at the end of last week - he is fully recovered, thankfully. His parents,
both frontline care workers, and the rest of the family are all in isolation. Rebecca reassured staff that
measures to distance pupils have been stringent and that the area concerned has had an extra deep clean
and been empty for the long weekend - as well as I think several visits from the cleaners each day when
occupied.
Tuesday 13th April
Have booked zoom calls with people for tomorrow morning and for Friday morning. Was due to meet Karl
today for a social distanced hello and a quick whizz around the park, but he has quite rightly pointed out that
we would be pushing the limits of the lockdown and that it is probably better if we don’t. So we will continue
with regular messaging and video calls. Care homes very much in the news today - shocking statistics
regarding infections and deaths nationwide and concern about numbers of deaths outside hospitals, including
care homes, not being accounted for. Criticism that older people are being side-lined through all of this.
Sadly, the care home where Chloe’s mum lives has been affected and at the current time Chloe is waiting to
hear whether her Mum’s chest infection is more serious and might indeed be coronavirus, in which case she
will be admitted to hospital - enormously worrying for Chloe.
Wednesday 14th April
Beautiful morning. Early jigsaw puzzling with my first cuppa. Academy team are putting together a fun
lockdown video, so have decided to go with an outdoor baking theme and to chuck some icing sugar around
to music! Unfortunately no icing sugar … sent a local call out and neighbour has come to my rescue and is
going to leave some on the doorstep for me later. Lauren has agreed to direct and film! Susan nearly
persuaded me to go with my original morris dancing idea, but thankfully Steve has
explained a bit more and it doesn’t seem quite the thing to do - the backing track will be Justin Timberlake
‘Can’t stop the feeling’ so want to do something fun. All videos to be sent to Steve for editing and putting
together. Zoomed with friends - lots of laughs and lovely to see them. Although I have occasionally been
tempted to rejoin the whole school WhatsApp group, this has firmly made my mind up … Bruce spent a
couple of hours in his garden yesterday with his kids and came back to find 396 messages on the group!
Lauren and I had such fun making the video - I think five or six takes, but we got there in the end! Icing sugar
everywhere, both myself and the garden needed a good hosing down. I don’t feel guilty for ‘wasting’ icing
sugar - should I? Looking forward to seeing the finished film once it has been through Steve’s editing suite.
Karl rang, video call, lovely to see him, nice catch up, usual laughs and podcast recommendation swaps. I
have just found Scriptnotes which I am enjoying, he has put me onto Guardian Audio Long Reads - plenty of
topics and level of intellect to choose from, depending on my mood and ability to concentrate. Book number
three of lockdown (Where the Cawdads Sing) and jigsaw puzzle number two (After the Rain - or as Lauren
calls it ‘A European City in Lockdown’ - she has a point) are well underway. Lauren plans to buy a few tops
and some leggings online, I must admit that browsing in a clothes shop now would be such a treat - and I’m
not a huge fan of shopping normally. As would be sitting in a coffee shop - so I made myself a granola pot
and a mock cappuccino earlier and visualised Pret! Most of all, I want to go to the coast - preferably Gower,
Three Cliffs Bay, but honestly anywhere would do. Perhaps I’ll cycle beyond Cardiff Castle soon, across to
Penarth via Cardiff Bay and The Barrage - at least I’ll be in the vicinity of salt water, if not waves and sand.
In a burst of energy I weeded the bed behind the garage, cut the grass and tidied the garage, very satisfying.
Lauren plans to call Granny later, together with Karl and X - they are going to attempt a video call, not
Granny’s first, but it’s early days and almost guaranteed to be a drama! Anne has told me about a guy at
Swansea Uni who is gathering lockdown diary entries and so on for a collated record - am very interested in
contributing, so have sent him an email. He has been working with Neil on a programme for the BBC. I hope
that I hear back and get the opportunity at least to submit some of my ramblings - it would be fun to have
contributed to history in this way. Had a very friendly and upbeat message back from Dr Mike Ward, Senior
Lecturer in Social Science at Swansea Uni - am encouraged to participate.
Thursday 15th April
Usual morning ritual of cuppa and jigsaw puzzle at the kitchen table whilst listening to the news - or a podcast
if the news feels particularly gloomy or repetitive. Received a sweet post from across the road, a little stills
video reminding people about the importance of this ‘moment’ in history and the part that they can play in it.
There are positives to come out of this - learning new skills, being with family, enjoying nature, slowing down,
reprioritising, allowing the world to heal. A friend, NHS physiotherapist is waiting to hear where and how she
is needed to support at the frontline. Having run her own clinics for years, she may now be working back on
non-critical wards and will receive training tomorrow. But it is unsettling for her, the not knowing where, when,
what. We discussed (via WhatsApp) mindfulness whilst jigsaw puzzling and how we are spending our time,
among other things. For those who are not users of social media, or do not have a wide social circle, or are
quite solitary this may, ironically, be even harder. I am not a user of social media per se, but do use Facebook
Messenger and WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family (although I avoid large WhatsApp groups).
I also enjoy my own company as well as the company of others at some times, but I don’t actively seek out
company, normally speaking. However, it means such a lot at the moment to see other people via Zoom or
other video call links, such contact has taken on a completely new significance. Thank goodness we have
these tools at our disposal. I feel less worried than I did about the mental health of those around me, and in
fact have been pleasantly surprised that a couple of people who I thought would really struggle actually seem
to be thriving on the lockdown, to date at least. I think for some people it has released time to make their
own choices, which they are finding freeing - particularly if they still have a wage/furlough coming in. Others
are enjoying their close time with family and not being exposed to the pressures of the workplace, but I speak
of a friend with teenagers, it is probably very different for many with young families. There is talk of schools
returning in the not too distant future, but much concern about this from staff and unions. Kirsty Williams,
Education Minister for Wales, confirmed last night that schools would not be returning next week (the end of
the Easter holidays) and not for the foreseeable future. It has also been suggested that when schools do
open up again, there will be measures taken and systems in place to respect social distancing measures etc.
Much discussion about if/how exactly this will work, with any age group but not least very young children in
Nursery and Reception classes. Another beautiful day - the trees behind the house have burst into leaf, all
shades of green, a feast for the eyes (until the pollen from the oak tree drops …) Pilates this morning, so
have set up my temporary studio in the sitting room and await the start of the lesson. Am getting used to
doing a class at home and learning to switch off from my environment, to stop clock-
watching and to focus on the class. Cassandra (Pilates teacher) has worked so hard to learn how to run
classes remotely, she would probably be happy to be described as a technophobe and this has been an
enormously steep and fast learning curve, but she is doing a great job and is also going to be providing some
podcasts online for relaxation - very grateful for these. Caught up on Masterchef and the final installment of
‘Quiz’ from last night’s tv and then went for a long walk in the late afternoon sunshine, up over the northern
meadows, along the canal and back along the river. Our evening Morgan Zoom appointment was cancelled
due to lack of interest! Not really, but several of the family had double booked, so we decided to postpone
until next week - no lack of socialising under lockdown, albeit in a different format. Clap for Carers tonight
had an extra dimension, a neighbour, brought his cello out onto the front lawn and treated us to Calon Lan
and Somewhere over the Rainbow - very lovely, quite poignant. People up and down the street listened and
enjoyed, some from their upstairs windows, some at street level. We all look forward to seeing each other
on a Thursday evening, it gives us a sense of unity being out there together for the common cause.
Friday 17th April
Lockdown is to continue for another three weeks, at least. I am past being frustrated or disappointed by this
decision by the government, it is the right thing, we are winning, we are going to beat this bloody pandemic
and we have settled into some sort of routine, although we continue to adjust. The thought of coming out of
lockdown and hospital admissions or deaths spiking again fills me with horror. Spain have sent construction
workers back to work and in Italy (both countries severely hit) have begun opening up bookshops and
children’s clothing shops. I guess that we will watch them closely and see what we can learn from these
strategies, we are a couple of weeks behind both countries in terms of the Covid curve and in that sense
have the advantage of watching and waiting - but I hope very much that we learn from their successes, not
their mistakes. In Denmark, schools have reopened with social distancing rules in place, it will be interesting
to see how they can make this work, but I know nothing of the Danish education system. Germany, under
Angela Merkel, have been very proactive in testing large numbers in the population as have some other
European countries, as a nation we are still trying to reach targets - I have no doubt that every possible effort
is being made to allow this to happen. The US is in a terrible mess, over thirty thousand deaths and rising,
Trump making extraordinary pronouncements and decisions and potentially putting not only US residents at
risk, but the rest of the world too. He has pulled support from the WHO and claims that he can override the
decisions of state governors in relation to social distancing, lockdown, etc - he cannot.
Many of Lauren’s American friends are horrified and scared by his leadership - even more so than usual.
Slept very badly last night, still awake at 3am, not aware of specific worries and had a good day, but the daily
death figures do hit hard to say the least and I continue to listen to some news and try to watch one news per
day. Many people having very vivid dreams, which apparently can be explained by this whole situation and
the underlying anxieties it brings. I know people who are obviously anxious, some who are becoming slightly
hypochondriacal, some who are bored, others relaxed and happy - the whole gamut of emotions and certainly
for me, this can change on a daily basis. UK deaths are still in the range of 700 - 1000 per day, London has
been particularly hard hit but we take nothing for granted in Wales. There are signs that social distancing is
working, staying at home is working - numbers of hospital admissions and deaths are levelling off across the
UK, but both need to continue to do so for some time and to start to drop, before any lockdown measures will
be lifted. Government scientific advisors suggested yesterday that we may need to keep social distancing
measures in place until a vaccine has been developed and fully tested - this could take eighteen months.
Still dreadful stories in the press of inadequate PPE for healthcare workers, this is of tremendous concern
and a matter of urgency for the government and private companies - eg Burberry are involved in the making
of PPE clothing at the current time, just as car manufacturers and engineering companies are producing
oxygen kits and so on on their production lines - so much effort and support on both a micro and macro level.
Heard on Womens Hour of a group of women in Yorkshire who are documenting this time in the form of
haikus - nice idea, may have a go:
Coronavirus spreading
Deadly yet unseen
Our world has been changed
Humans in lockdown
Rebalance of ownership
Nature spreads her wings
You may find it hard
But it’s not intensive care
So smile and get on
Rainbow arc of hope
Leading us to golden times
Our brave NHS
Japanese haiku
Poetry? Frivolity?
The reader decides
Cannot stop putting everything into haiku form, must stop, it’s bloody annoying. Fun Zoom chat with friend
this morning, we are dealing with the lockdown in a very similar way in terms of how we feel and how we are
spending our time. We compared notes on walks, gardening and TV shows. The school staff video has
been released on the school website, twitter and facebook accounts and is a huge success, lots of kind
comments from school families. It was a lovely project to take part in and the finished product is really upbeat
and fun and portrays us as a fun and happy staff, which we are. A change in the weather today, much cooler
and light showers. Popped up to the local Coop for bread, milk, fruit and veg, was fifth in the queue but we
are all quite used to the one in-one out policy and everyone is very patient. Similar length, but slower moving,
queue outside the chemists. Made a couple of soups with hanging around veg - butternut squash and ginger,
courgette and lemon - and caught up on some Spanish. Lauren continues with sorting, filing and albuming
photos and mementos going back over several years before her daily run. I asked her what, at this stage,
her abiding memory of lockdown would be and she said “connection”. She has reconnected with so many
people that she would otherwise probably not have made contact with, having the time to do so - happy that
she will have some happy memories of this time when so much of her life is restricted. We have had a look
at food in the fridge and cupboards and decided that with a bit of ingenuity we can manage not to shop until
Monday, which is good for many reasons, not least that we are strongly encouraged to shop as infrequently
as possible. I have asked Doris (elderly neighbour) if she needs anything as she is in the age group who are
completely housebound and living on her own since her little dog died. She tells me that
she is managing to keep spirits up, but it can’t be easy for her.
Saturday 18th April
A still, damp day, overcast. Made hummus and taboulleh - very satisfying to create some tasty and attractive
meals when the fridge is so bare! Battled with the jigsaw puzzle, watched some TV, read my book. The river
is quite low after our long dry spell and there is still evidence to be seen everywhere along the banks of the
flooding that took place in ?February. It is going to be a very long time before it has all been removed/washed
downstream and I suspect that some of it will be there for decades - the height of the floodwater, as shown
by rubbish up in the trees, is really hard to believe. I often see the heron fishing at the weir or in one of the
burbling rocky parts, where with eyes closed it is easy to transport to Dartmoor - if only! The canal is calm
and cool and peaceful, no sign of the kingfisher recently, but many ducks and moorhen plus the odd
cormorant, happily living their lives, presumably oblivious to the coronavirus. Video called Athena - well into
her 80s, it literally involved five handsets and took more than ten minutes to successfully connect - but well
worth it, lovely to see her and she loves to see the family. Must remember to write again, letters through the
post are her absolute favourite. Heard from Erik (brother, works at a hospital, very stressful time). There are
still many very sick patients and his main concern currently is to meet the demands for drugs, everyone
needing the same ones in extremely large quantities to treat the sick. But he feels that the situation is
beginning to stabilise in London and this can only be good news. Following a period of stabilisation, it is
predicted that numbers will start to decrease and the job of the government will then be to assess, with
scientific and medical guidance, how best to come out of lockdown to protect as many people as possible
and to prevent another spike in cases of Covid. The press are not making it easy, in my opinion, they question
the ministers at the daily briefings (via video, necessarily) with a sense of blame and impatience because
details of plans for ending lockdown are not being revealed. I think that it is unforgivable at this time that the
people leading our country through the most difficult time imaginable in our lifetimes are not treated with the
utmost respect and patience - Hello - no one wants to be in this situation! It is really unhelpful if this spreads
among the population, we should be doing everything possible to promote calm, rationality, tolerance and
patience - the press have an important role to play in this.
Sunday 19th April
The sunshine is back! A bit cooler than last week, but a pleasant breeze and washing on the line - lovely.
Cassandra (Pilates teacher) has just emailed over three podcasts which she made at the beginning of
lockdown, designed for relaxation and mindfulness, will enjoy having some peaceful time to listen to those at
some point. Have probably neglected my mental health in some ways - my times of relaxation have not
necessarily been properly restful and a flashpoint with Lauren yesterday reminds me that I am quite highly
strung at the moment and perhaps not as in control of my feelings as I thought. The week ahead already
feels busy - it is remarkable how quickly activities adjust to fit the new time, it makes no sense, but I feel
slightly stressed to have so much to fit in! This consists of: Pilates and a food shop on Monday, working at
the Academy Hub on Tuesday and Wednesday, Pilates and a family Zoom quiz on Thursday, Zoom meets
with friends on Thursday and Friday - it really shouldn’t feel so much, but it does. I have passed the place
where I missed work and felt the need to go in to retain some semblance of normality - it rather feels like an
interruption to my week now that I am used to the ‘new normal’. Hopefully it will be enjoyable and nice to see
some colleagues, I’m sure it will be. Lots of Spanish this weekend - doing some Babbel and some Duolingo,
slightly different approaches and hoping that the mixture will reap rewards. Ordered some books on Amazon
today following recommendations on The High Low podcast last night. Got the sun lounger out of the garage
and spent a few hours reading in the garden, Where the Crawdads Sing, very relaxing.
Monday 20th April
Early wake up today, 6.30am, perhaps in anticipation of having to be at work early tomorrow morning. Usual
get-up time has been 8 - 8.30 am followed by a relatively relaxed breakfast, jigsaw puzzling, shower and
dressed by mid-morning. Rebecca has emailed all staff outlining what we should be doing from home, as
we are expected to be working. Teachers will continue to prepare lessons for children and to prepare for the
new curriculum alongside doing what they need to continue their professional development (online courses)
and TAs are asked to prepare resources for school, as advised by teachers, to familiarise ourselves with the
new curriculum and to continue our professional development by reading, doing online courses, etc - various
suggestions have been made, including Welsh, IT, Open University courses linked to the mental health of
children - and so on. We are asked to work the hours that we normally work - those of us working at the hub
will include those hours in hours worked. E.g my two long days in the hub this week will equate to my normal
three contracted days. Very clear instruction has been given with regard to sickness
(whether corona related or not) and self-isolation and we are asked to keep school informed if we are unfit to
work. Rebecca has produced the next hub rota, so after this week my next two days are in the third week of
May. Pilates class this morning, then a trip to Waitrose to restock the fridge - very short queue today, virtually
straight in and nice and quiet inside which was a welcome relief. Shortages in some areas including some
veg and eggs, ongoing shortages of hand sanitiser and paracetamol. Warm sunny afternoon reading in the
garden, early evening walk along the river and up over the meadows. Government under continued pressure
to supply more PPE for frontline care workers, a consignment due to arrive at the weekend from Turkey has
been held up - RAF planes have been sent to collect it, very real concerns about PPE being inadequate and
running out very soon despite lots of new small companies stepping up to help with production. Today’s
death figures were under 500, a steady reduction over the last few days from regularly sitting around 8-900
for some time. Deaths in the UK total 16,500 to date, not counting deaths in care homes and at home. The
Welsh government has abandoned its targets for testing, we will have to be patient, but it has been said that
everyone will need to be tested when lockdown comes to an end. The Dragon’s Heart Hospital was officially
opened today, a temporary hospital on the site of the Principality Stadium, with the potential capacity of 2000
beds. Extraordinary effort in extraordinary times. Thankfully the existing hospitals are currently coping well
with patient numbers. Various countries around the world are tentatively lifting lockdown whilst other
countries look on. Japan has had to reintroduce lockdown because of a sharp rise in cases. We are told
that the PM (still recovering) and the government will approach lifting of lockdown measures with caution - I
hope this is the case.
Tuesday 21st April
Early start to be at the school hub just after 7.30am. Rebecca gave a briefing to all staff to explain how the
day would work, what was and was not permitted, how to use the space, how to keep children distanced and
equipment sterilised - etc. Straight away I was struck by the detailed organisation that has gone into setting
this hub up since I was last in at the very beginning. No stone has been left unturned, every tiny detail thought
through and clear systems put in place. Every staff member has a handbook to remind them of times,
procedures, timetables, accessible areas, etc. School is very cold and the office job requires very little moving
around, the day went quite slowly but there were times when I was busy and fully occupied together with
quieter times and times when I listened to a podcast/Radio 4/ read my book. Nice catch up chats with
Rebecca, and others, and good to meet staff from other schools. Nearly all children who
attended today - 27 in total across six schools - were familiar with the set-up, having been from the start on
most days, and in many cases were showing the staff how things were organised. Schools have clear zones
within the building. Distancing, hand washing and hand sanitising is under constant review and reminders
given frequently. Although cold inside, lovely sunny day and the children spent happy times playing outside
with spells inside the building doing craft, exercising, on ipads, drawing - a huge range of activities too long
to list. Staff are resourceful, but activities are very number dependent and numbers vary day to day. Play
times, snack times and lunch time are clearly timetabled, children are well spaced within the hall and different
schools go outside and use outside equipment at different times. A free lunch is offered to all staff to keep
potential contamination from outside school to a minimum. School is strangely quiet and takes a bit of getting
used to. Many areas are piled high with furniture and equipment that has been moved out of the designated
areas - I dread to think how much time and effort will be needed to get classrooms back to ‘normal’ but no
point worrying about that just yet. Many staff complain of the day being long and boring - and cold. As the
children have reached a stage where they are happy, for long spells, to entertain themselves and we are
used to multi-tasking at work and attending to multiple children all day, so a much slower pace can be hard
to adjust to. My jobs include filing bits related to the hub, calling parents on Rebecca’s behalf to clarify various
things, dealing with post, homework queries from parents, supporting hub staff who don’t know the school,
ensuring any visitors to school (staff, cleaners, cooks, etc) sign in/out and sanitise hands and the same on
leaving the premises. Sports equipment had to be collected and disinfected at the end of the day, ipads had
to be disinfected and Milton solution had to be distributed to each area for soaking indoor play equipment.
Parents and carers collected children at various times through the afternoon, all were gone by 5pm.
Absolutely shattered by the end of the day - and couldn’t have been more surprised by the outside
temperature, 20 degrees C. Early supper and very early to bed.
Wednesday 22nd April
Second day in the hub - everything felt much more familiar today and as a result the day went more quickly
and felt easier - all staff felt the same. Dug out winter clothes to wear and was glad I did, still chilly in the
building - enviously watched staff and children out on the school field at various times of the day. Similar role
today, also printed off some lettering for Year 3 and Year 4 displays for September, as requested by the team
leader. Printed off a few resources for the children in the hub to ring the changes, but lots of outside play
today - very grateful for this lovely weather. Not on the hub rota for another four weeks,
had not fully appreciated that for some schools with a smaller staff, individuals are called much more
frequently, some people are in a day a week, others every 8-9 days. Our SLT have been so busy throughout
this period, it was lovely to see them and to catch up but it is obvious to me that they are living a very different
life to the rest of us at the current time. Glad to have done these two days, but it did feel like a different world
and looking forward to getting back to my own new world at home. Did an early evening walk to get my body
moving, I missed my exercise over the last two days, then enjoyed a lovely outdoors supper cooked by
Lauren.
Thursday 23rd April
Back into my home routine - washing on the line, Pilates in the sitting room, Zoom call with friends. Very
tired after my two long days in the hub, looking forward to feeling more relaxed and to slowing down again.
Lunch in the garden with Lauren, lay on the sun lounger in the garden all afternoon reading. Late pm/early
evening walk, absolutely beautiful up in the meadows at this time of day in this warm weather. Much talk of
nature breathing a sigh of relief and recovering from decades of human destruction and spoil - as the world
slows down, the environment cleans up and finds a new balance with reduced human activity. The bluebells
and wild garlic are stunning in the dappled shade, the beech trees above in bright green new leaf - stunning,
my favourite colours of spring. Musky smells of cow parsley and vibrant smells of wisteria tumbling over
fences and sheds as I walk around the locality. The river is very low after weeks of minimal rain, such a
change from a few weeks ago. Watched two heron fly over this morning, nice to see them in a pair, while a
fledged long-tailed tit actually flew in to our house through an upstairs window - soon realised his mistake
and luckily stayed in the region of the window, from where Lauren swooshed him out. Much insect activity
around our windows and brick vents - have a feeling that wasps are nesting in the cavity, will keep an eye on
that, but perhaps it happens each year and we are just around more to notice in spring 2020. Matt Hancock
(Health Sec) has announced that all key workers will be able to book a coronavirus test from this week for
themselves and any members of their family showing symptoms - much criticism up to this point for failure to
provide extensive testing, but have no doubt that everyone at every level of government is doing the best
they possibly can. Numbers of people tested, along with number of positive cases and number of deaths
attributable to Covid-19 are constantly updated. Any chance of testing more people is to be welcomed - but
tests to date will only show that a person has the virus at that time, it is not an antibody test for those who
have had it, though clearly this is needed too. The first participants in a medical trial for
a Covid vaccine have begun trials - courageous and generous people. Still very early days. Nicola Sturgeon
has been praised for being more open than Westminster in terms of what to expect when restrictions are
eased. She has made it clear that nothing will happen in the near future, nothing will happen quickly, changes
will almost certainly be incremental and we should expect social distancing to be part of our lives for a long
time to come. It has also been said that once restrictions are eased, lockdown could be reinstated at very
short notice at any stage, should it be deemed necessary. We still have a very, very long way to go - and it
becomes clearer as time goes on that life may never be quite the same again. Crowded places - bars, clubs,
sports grounds, public transport etc - may be a thing of the past. The very fabric of society as we knew it
may have to be rewritten, restructured, reconfigured. It may be a whole generation before we really know
what this means and what life looks like, before a new equilibrium is reached. We are still absorbing this
reality, but it will take time and introspection and acceptance and patience.
Two birthdays of immediate neighbours in the last couple of days - in both cases a couple of friends visited
with a bottle of bubbly and sat, distanced, on the lawn - not strictly speaking okay, but I understand why they
did it as an annual event! I hope that it doesn’t mean that people around us are becoming more relaxed
about the household rules and measures, but I think generally speaking that this isn’t the case, we are all
very aware and want to do everything we can to make this as pain free and short-lived as possible. We also
have two NHS workers in our immediate group of houses. Lovely ‘clap for carers’ this evening, again,
neighbour brought his cello out and played ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘Calon Lan’. We had a bit of a sing and
then chatted for a while in our little conclave of four houses. We have all reached a level of acceptance,
some are happy with their new routine, others bored, some delighted to be able to spend more time at home
with young family - we all agreed that a street party at the end of lockdown was a great idea!
Friday 24th April
Warm, sunny weather continues! Hung washing on the line, set up garden furniture for another afternoon of
reading and lounging, not bored of it yet! The current jigsaw puzzle is puzzling, but determined to finish it.
Lauren went out for a run before it got too hot. Zoomed with friend- lovely catch-up, lots to chat about. The
window cleaners came - the most normal thing to happen for weeks!! Read in the garden, cycled up to the
Park and back down the playing fields. Lauren and I watched two lonesome jets flying
over, the only ones we had seen all day - used the app to discover that both were freight flights, both from
Europe to the US.
Saturday 25th April
Great progress on the jigsaw puzzle this morning. Ordered a hand mixer on Amazon to be sent to Karl’s
house - meringue is next on their baking list and I felt that I owed them a house-warming pressie. Hopefully
it will arrive in good time, even if not the usual overnight Prime service. Pilates to loosen up my body after
leaning badly over the puzzle for so long. Booked zoom meeting for tomorrow evening, after Sarah finishes
work at the hospital. Rang pharmacy to ask about dropping a repeat prescription in, without adding to the
queue etc and she suggested that I dropped it into her personal letterbox in the village - above and beyond,
but typical of how people in the community are putting themselves out at the current time. So my walk took
me up through the village. Continued on afterwards to the Farm where I had a quick chat with a friend,
remembering the days of strawberry picking, ice creams and the Christmas shop when she was younger.
Over the bridge and back along the river. The bridge can be a bit tricky social-distancing-wise, some people,
walkers and cyclists, are more accommodating and aware than others. Another bridge has been closed
today by the police, because people weren’t social distancing.
Sunday 26th April
Slow but pretty regular start today - puzzle, washing, Spanish and diary-writing, lunch, reading in the garden.
We saw one jet overhead in the whole afternoon - a Heathrow to JFK passenger plane. Can’t imagine who
is still flying across the world and we wonder what it is like onboard, with social distancing and other now
commonplace measures presumably in place. There is talk of compulsory isolation for fourteen days for
travellers coming into the UK beginning soon, both British and foreign nationals - have to wonder why there
aren’t already checks and isolation procedures in place at airports. Various parts of Europe trying various
steps to come out of lockdown, mixed success, hard to get a picture yet of what this means to individuals or
indeed for the populations as a whole. Belgium apparently has been hardest hit, in terms of per capita deaths.
Another plan to make a staff video - this time to wish someone a happy 60th birthday under lockdown, so will
make a short ‘cheers’ clip tomorrow when I look a little less feral … zoom call later - jokes flying around about
dress code and appropriate back drops. Fun zoom get-together, everyone in good
spirits. Planned for our next meet-up to be a family quiz.
Monday 27th April - start of Week 6 of Lockdown
It would have been Mum’s 85th birthday today. Dense cloud cover, cooler, very different feel weather-wise.
Boris is back at work and delivered a message outside No 10 this morning - stick with our resolve, we are
beating this ‘assailant’ but we have to be patient in order to avoid further catastrophe. The lockdown and
social distancing measures look set to continue for some time yet - I am reassured by his determination and
resolve and wonder how big a part his own experience with Covid-19 has played in his decision making.
Pressure on the government for the sake of the economy to open things up, but the PM is clearly putting
human life, and not economic cost, as the priority. In some other parts of Europe, gradual easing of
restrictions. In Spain, children were allowed out of their homes for the first time for six weeks yesterday -
many are in small apartments without any outside space, hard to imagine how that has been. Made some
date slices - delicious baking smells through the house - and caught up on some TV. Quite a backlist of TV
to watch, unusual for me and ironic that at this time I have been watching less TV than normal! Early evening
walk.
Tuesday 28th April
A rainy day - the first for weeks! Jigsaw puzzle number two (‘After the rain’ - ironic) finished this morning -
satisfied to have finished, Lauren impressed that I stuck with it, need a break from puzzling now - just as
jigsaw puzzle weather sets in! I hope that the change in the weather doesn’t bring people’s mood down and
make lockdown more difficult, I think that we all need to adjust as quickly as possible and find the new ‘wet
weather normal’. There has been a sense of an extended holiday - living outside, BBQs, etc, so it is almost
inevitable that it feels different now. But personally, I am quite relieved to have a break from the heat, the
garden already looks refreshed from overnight rain and I am happy to walk in all weathers. Big push on
Spanish this morning, feeling slightly guilty that I have missed a couple of days - but having a break from it
can be helpful, don’t want it to become a chore. Spent the afternoon watching a Spanish film (with subtitles)
then popped up to the village to collect a prescription and to get some milk and eggs - queues relatively short
today. In the outside world, US and China continue to be at loggerheads over coronavirus blame, Trump
threatening to sue China for inadequate measures early on to prevent spread of the virus.
Wednesday 29th April
Very wet morning, began the day with breakfast TV and the next episode of Homeland (devastated that this
is the final season and dreading Saul’s end). Lauren going out to get some shopping, to drop off a couple of
bits to Karl, including some shopping and to pop to friends with a book - nice opportunity for Lauren to have
face-to-face chats (down the garden path) with both. Horrendous casualty statistics out of the US this
morning - more people have died from Covid 19 than lost their lives in the Vietnam war. Very, very grim
statistics and stories from the States for some weeks now and the whole world aghast at Trump’s handling
of the crisis, both at home and on the international platform. At home, many more people have access to
testing kits and despite continued criticism from some quarters, this can be nothing but a good thing. The
birth of the PM’s baby was announced this morning - a boy - what a time that family have had over the past
few weeks. Long phone chat with Athena (mum-in-law) who continues to be remarkably upbeat and stoic
through this lockdown. I asked her what her first activity would be upon being ‘let out’ and she said “a hug
for my grandchildren, a kiss for my children and no doubt a trip to Sainsburys” - that is Athena in a nutshell!
The home secretary fronted PMQs and the daily briefing as the PM settles in at Number 10 with his new son.
Thursday 30th April
Significant rain overnight and this morning - everything looking refreshed in the garden. Pilates was a good
start to the day, Lauren went for her run. Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, had promised that the target of
100,000 tests per day would be reached by today, but this looks unlikely. Much criticism for him and the
government as mass testing is believed to be crucial to getting out of this situation as quickly as possible and
enabling the country to get back to something like normal. The PM, leading his first daily briefing since being
hospitalised, is expected to say later that coming out of lockdown will be slow and steady - and crucially, not
yet. But it is considered likely that he will give more information about intended and likely strategies once the
lockdown restrictions begin to be lifted. He is behind both the Scottish and Welsh governments in speaking
about this and has been much criticised for not doing so sooner. Captain Tom Moore, WW2 veteran and
fundraiser is 100 years old today. He began walks around his garden to raise funds for the NHS at the start
of the lockdown and his family bet him that he couldn’t do one hundred laps to raise £100. Quickly the target
was £1000. By this morning, he had raised £30 million for the NHS - extraordinary! He is much feted today,
has been made an honorary Colonel by the Queen, had a flypast and lots of TV coverage - a real treasure
from this time who has inspired the public in so many ways. Lovely tributes from across
the country - the public, the Prime Minister, many cricketing heroes, a fantastic day for Major Tom. Lauren
and I began to plan the Jones family quiz and booked a zoom call with the Morgans for this evening. Spanish
and a zoom catch up with friend this afternoon. It’s the end of April, so I’m going to send this first batch of
diary entries to Mike Ward ...
May
Friday 1st May
Spanish this morning, followed by zoom chat with a colleague who is joining friends for Beer Pong this
evening - ambitious! Talked about the lockdown, what comes next, how and when school might return or
begin a phased return. My colleague predicts that Year 6 will be the first group of children back in primary
settings, which makes sense - they have the biggest transition to prepare for. But the year group, sixty
children, would need to be socially distanced and spread across at least four classroom areas, which in turn
would require four teachers - and presumably the school building would still be operating as a hub for the
children of frontline workers, so lots to think about. June 1st has been mentioned as a potential date
(unofficially I think) this would have been the first day back after the May half term had circumstances been
normal. Lauren and I went through old family photos, looking for suitable ones for our quiz round in a couple
of weeks - lots of happy memories and laughs and we have some good ideas for our round, entitled Family
Photo Album. Lovely surprise this morning and much relieved when Michael, my 82 year old godfather,
Dad’s cousin rang. I had not heard from him since writing a letter several weeks ago, and knew that he would
normally have responded - turns out that he was stuck in lockdown in Gran Canaria and unable to get a flight
home until last Sunday. Lovely to hear from him and he sounded happy to be home - it was, inevitably, not
a great holiday and his flight home had been far from ideal. The first leg, Palma to Madrid had been a very
quiet flight and evidently Madrid airport was practically deserted. But the flight from Madrid to London was
packed, with no attempts to social distance. Michael wore gloves and a facemask that he had managed to
buy on the island, but it was clear that he had felt pretty vulnerable and uncomfortable for the duration of the
flight. No checks or advice given upon landing at Heathrow - everyone just filed into the terminal and
continued on their way - this is concerning, but borne out by many other similar stories. TV this afternoon,
rewatching season two of Killing Eve before beginning season three, just out. Late afternoon walk, met a
family from school and whilst chatting with the children’s mum about the dismal weather
this week, made the mistake of saying that previous weeks had felt a bit like an extended holiday - oops! I
can just imagine Academy twitter going into meltdown over school staff being paid to do nothing. Really
should have kept my mouth shut, or mentioned that we are all being directed to work from home, as well as
staffing the hub. A colleague is sixty today and had planned all sorts of celebrations and holidays, which
inevitably have had to be cancelled. We made a staff video and sent it to her via WhatsApp to wish her a
very happy day - she was absolutely thrilled. This week has flown by, despite the fact that some days have
felt long - we all agree that time has taken on a new dimension. I still have no problem filling the available
time and it is advantageous in some fairly minor ways - teeth flossing every day instead of a couple of times
a week (Brownie points from the dentist when they reopen) and even considering which clothes to wash
tomorrow, instead of grabbing a load of washing while the kettle boils, or whatever - in a nutshell, less call
for multitasking which should mean less stress. Together with this, however, I have noticed that on the odd
occasions I have bought a newspaper, I have really struggled with the puzzles, have lost the knack for Suko,
crosswords, spatial problems, etc, perhaps brain fog can be explained by lockdown - should I be concerned
about this?
Saturday 2nd May
Woke this morning feeling very out of sorts after a bad night’s sleep - not really sure why, but sleep is not
great at the moment. However, I am able to have short afternoon naps on the sofa and more often than not,
I do. I have been thinking a lot about when we come out of lockdown and how that will feel - at least we are
used to the current situation. And because it will happen gradually, in steps, possibly some forwards and
some backwards depending upon the spread of the virus as we come out, there may be little time to adjust.
For those of us who are resistant to change, I fear that it will be an even more difficult and uncertain time
than we find ourselves in at the moment. Perhaps that is what is keeping me awake at night. Lauren
suggested that I break my habit of walking at river level and aim for height and views today, to lift my spirits.
So I walked up over the local golf club, which has been opened to the public during the lockdown, is very
beautiful and has stunning views across the city. I went well beyond the club, into the fields beyond. This will
definitely add variety to my daily walks and was a great idea, spirits definitely lifted. Met another colleague
and family on my way back across the golf club and had a lovely catch-up - we have been chatting regularly
over Zoom, but SO nice to see her and to properly catch-up. They are doing well but naturally apprehensive
about the lifting of lockdown as my colleague has significant health concerns which place
her in the vulnerable section of society - she is particularly worried about how safe it will be for her back at
school, particularly in year one with 5 - 6 year olds who are very needy, clingy and snotty! Another colleague’s
birthday today, sent a virtual birthday card as I am doing for most people at the moment, signed up for twelve
months, any number of cards and lots of choice - just makes life a bit easier at the moment, not being able
to pick up cards in town or at the lovely card shop in the village. Lauren baked a delicious Pear Upside-down
Cake, making do with the ingredients we have and it was one of the most delicious ever! The plants I had
ordered from Crocus arrived, but sadly not in their usual prime condition, several were broken and a couple
diseased. I understand that the company cannot function as normal, but I paid full price for these plants and
have requested replacements or a refund, I don’t think that poor packing and transport can necessarily be
blamed on the coronavirus. I have seen a few garden borders planted with bedding plants, some of the
supermarkets have some available, but this would normally be one of the busiest times of year for the garden
centres and lots of people won’t be able to get their usual marigolds, petunias and the like. There were some
lovely lockdown pictures on the BBC news site this week, one of which was a border decorated with flowers
made from pebbles - very pretty and resourceful.
Sunday 3rd May
Having decided early on in lockdown that I should treat the weekends differently, change my routine, chill a
bit more, I have decided that perhaps it is not such a good idea. Today had a very Sunday feeling and I felt
soporific and out of sorts all day, even whilst out walking at the end of the day. Terrible night’s sleep, again,
perhaps because my brain wasn’t active enough on top of everything else and perhaps also because I had
a lie-in on Saturday - never good for me. So from now on, I intend to get up by 8am each day, exercise, do
Spanish and diary-writing etc and not be tempted to watch any TV until after lunch. Sister-in-law sent a link
to a church inspired virtual choir initiative - stunning, uplifting, spine tingling, have played it again and again.
Boris and his fiancee have named their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas - it has been reported that two of the
doctors who cared for the PM whilst he was in St Thomas’s Hospital with Covid-19 were called Nicholas and
that this was chosen as a tribute to them. Boris has also had an interview with a national newspaper in which
he talks at some length about his time in hospital, his fears, decisions and discussions that were had, back-
up plans that were put in place - he was extremely close to being sedated and ventilated and I read a statistic
that only a third of such patients leave ICU alive. A week from today, the PM is going to set out some of the
strategies being considered for the lifting of the lockdown. These may include, eg, hot-
desking, staggered shifts, schools open for different children on different days, facemasks on public transport.
The law requires the government to assess the lockdown every 21 days, this falls on Thursday next week, I
think we expect lockdown to continue for most people whilst these strategies are considered, assessed and
perhaps trialled - we shall see. Lauren continues to exercise - usually yoga or a run - and to Zoom call friends
regularly, either to chat or sometimes to do a quiz, very popular Zoom pastime. This time last year Lauren
was at the wedding of a uni friend, how things have changed - many, many cancelled weddings this spring
and summer and many others uncertain about the possibility of going ahead with theirs later in the summer
or autumn. I heard on the radio yesterday about a Zoom wedding, where friends and family had gathered to
celebrate, the bride had been tricked into putting her dress on and a good time was had by all - although the
couple are still not officially married!
Monday 4th May
Colleagues birthday today, she enjoyed receiving her musical virtual card, realise that we have known each
other for over thirty years, since I first joined X in 1989! She had a virtual birthday party with her family via
Zoom - unusual but certainly memorable. Pilates this morning, much of it involved a kitchen chair, Cassandra
called the class The Chair Necessities - her confidence and sense of fun in terms of online teaching is
definitely growing! Good class, did me good, made me really think about the importance of good posture
and a strong and stable spine and core as the ageing process takes hold. Watched the final episode of
Homeland - having been a devoted fan for all seven seasons, I was absolutely dreading the final episode of
the final season. But it was so, so, SO utterly brilliant and clever and well-written that I actually feel very
happy and satisfied. Both Saul and Carrie live to fight another day - albeit fictional, or in fact, not even that.
Going to Waitrose to do a top-up shop and to get a couple of birthday cards for younger nephews and nieces
who may not appreciate a virtual card. Also for Sarah, who is working on the Covid wards at the Hospital
and deserves a birthday treat next weekend - I will make some flourless chocolate brownies, as there is no
flour in the shops at the moment. Helpfully, the magazine section of The Times which I bought the other day
had some flour-free cake recipes, very handy for both Sarah and Karl, who has his birthday next week.
Messaged Karl, Tamara and Sarah before going shopping to see if they needed anything, Karl has given me
a short list, everyone else is okay. Early evening trip to Waitrose was very easy, although of the few other
people who were shopping at that time, several were quite bargy and not bothering with social distancing,
which really bothered me. Very low supplies of eggs, no flour, pasta in short supply, no
paracetamol. Managed to get what was on my list plus some extra goodies for Karl, which I dropped off on
the way home. Lovely to see him for a doorstep chat, they had been out for a bike ride down to the Bay and
across the barrage which sounded lovely. I think that last week was tricky for them, as for so many others,
the change in weather made being outside less attractive and so many people felt quite cooped up - not good
for the spirits when so much else is affecting everyone’s mood.
Tuesday 5th May
Trials begin today on the Isle of Wight using the new Covid tracing app, the idea being that having signed up
to the app, if you develop symptoms, others with whom you have recently been in contact will be alerted and
will also be required to self-isolate for fourteen days. This ‘test, track and trace’ system, if successful, will be
rolled out to the rest of the UK soon. It is considered to be one of the most important aspects to the lifting of
restrictions, in terms of nipping infection spread in the bud - but it depends on full participation from the public
and already there is talk of security and personal privacy issues. My personal view is that if effective, we
should definitely be prepared to sign up and be a part of it, even at the cost, potentially, of some loss of
privacy. As many European countries begin to ease lockdown and cautiously watch to see what happens,
we await news on Sunday of our easing of restrictions. I feel confident that Lauren’s PGCE course will go
ahead and be completed within the next academic year, albeit not necessarily exactly as it may have been
delivered in previous years. But there is talk of some UK universities delivering courses online, at least at
the beginning of the academic year - and concern from students who will still be expected to pay full fees,
but won’t be getting the full university experience. I think that the timescale for Karl’s return to employment
normality will be much more prolonged, sadly, but we have been told that the hospitality industry will be one
of the last to resume. Someone in the trade said yesterday that they could only operate social distancing
measures within pubs and restaurants at something like 30% capacity - and how many businesses could
afford to operate with such low numbers? The government continues to support financially across all sectors,
both Karl and Lauren have received their first furlough payment, good news that Karl can pay his rent - Lauren
lucky enough to be living rent free at home currently. Another stunning and invigorating walk up over the golf
course and into the fields beyond, a feast for the senses. Very pleasing to walk on the soft springy turf (two
groundsmen are still employed to keep the greens in tip-top shape ready for reopening) and such a variety
of trees up there, the wind rattling through the poplars, fascinating colour-by-number bark on the eucalyptus
and the sun gleaming on the new leaves of the beech trees. Will definitely make the most
of this lovely space before it falls back into the hands of the privileged few.
Wednesday 6th May
Blue skies are back for now, washing on the line, hoover through, Zoom call with friends. We had lols, but
Madge sounded a little down - tried to persuade her to walk a bit further to some green spaces, as she loves
the outdoors but her walks have been literally around the houses, some green space will definitely do her
good. One of the senior members of the government’s scientific advisory team has resigned because he
broke social distancing laws, don’t know the detail, but for goodness sake! PM is to face Keir Starmer (new
Labour leader following Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation following defeat at last year’s general election) for the
first time in PMQ’s later today, but I think that they have both been involved in the discussions regarding next
steps for the lockdown. Lockdown rules continue to be lifted in parts of Europe (there is even talk of some
people having summer holidays) whilst Covid-19 begins to rampage in some of the most densely populated
and economically challenged parts of the world across India and the African continent - deeply concerning.
Trump continues to baffle, shock, anger and upset as he insists that lockdown measures will be lifted across
the USA despite appalling statistics - says the economy needs to get going. He plans to replace his
coronavirus taskforce - presumably because they were telling him and the country things he didn’t want to
hear. Nicola Sturgeon continues to be much more open and clear than Westminster about likely steps to
come and we expect similar practices to be employed across the whole of the UK as we come out of this -
things like staggered work times, facemasks on public transport, selective year groups and vulnerable
children to be the first to return to schools. Despite missing the variety of normal life and being desperate to
get to the coast, I feel physically fitter than I have for some time thanks to regular Pilates/yoga classes and
more frequent walks of several miles, I hope to maintain these habits well beyond the lockdown. Lauren is
getting creative and has been making birthday cards and re-purposing old coasters in lovely ways. She has
ordered some calligraphy pens online. This would normally be a very active time for house sales, but the
government has effectively frozen the market and there is much discussion about how property prices will be
affected in the aftermath of the pandemic. It can only be assumed that house values will suffer along with
every area of the financial market and could remain so for several years, potentially. The aviation industry
has been in the news a lot - Virgin Atlantic asking for bailouts then announcing massive job cuts and cessation
of activity at Gatwick, other smaller airlines going under, companies claiming that flights have to be operated
at capacity, or near to it, or prices will be so high that no one will be able to afford to fly -
travel and tourism massively hit by this pandemic, having presumably thought that the sector could only
continue to grow and expand. Thousands of job losses in the UK alone, thousands of businesses worried
for the future despite handouts and temporary loans etc. More than a quarter of a million people have now
lost their lives to Covid-19, worldwide, nearly 30,000 in the UK. Depending upon which data is used, it can
be said that the UK has the highest death toll in Europe, but because different systems are used in different
countries and data is collected differently, we are told that this is not necessarily the case. It may be some
years before clear comparisons can be made between countries. Sweden currently has the highest rate of
death according to some data, whilst Belgium has the highest per capita death rate. Evidence shows that
being male, older, underlying health factors, obesity and ethnicity can all contribute to the severity of the
disease, much scientific research is going on to try to establish why each of these factors plays such a part -
and indeed to developing a greater understanding of the disease in general. The Nightingale Hospital in
London, on the site of the Excel Centre in the Docklands, has been put on standby for the time being as NHS
hospitals are coping - thank goodness. Let’s hope that there is never the need for such overflow but be
grateful that we had the means to create these spaces, should they have been - or should they ever again
be - needed. I’m not sure whether the same is true for other Nightingale field hospitals, including the one in
Cardiff within the Principality Stadium, but the same goes - if they have not been fully utilised, this must be
seen as a success. On a significantly different medical level, I stubbed my toe badly stepping into the
conservatory and it was somewhat reminiscent of several summers ago when I broke my toe in the garden,
dropping the umbrella stand onto it. The thought of a visit to A & E at the current time, never mind not being
able to walk for three weeks, fills me with dread - iced it well, put my foot up, crossed my fingers.
Thursday 7th May
Jill’s 21st! All the Jones cousins are grown-up! Most people are being inventive and resourceful with their
lockdown birthdays, even big birthdays, have no doubt that Jill will birthday in style in Bristol, despite the fact
that she has an exam today. Cari is paying her a surprise visit and going to spend an hour or so in the garden
with her. Am trying not to get too excited, but it has been suggested that one of the PM’s announcements
on Sunday may be that we can mix in small groups, which may mean that we can see Karl properly on his
birthday next week - this would make me very happy, but both Karl and Lauren are telling me that not only is
this unlikely, but they would not be comfortable mixing across the houses yet as Karl is in a shared house
and each person will have their own social bubble beyond the house, so the risk is still
high. I completely respect their opinions and actually feel very proud that they are being so sensible - as a
cautious person myself, I fully support this - mustn’t let my heart rule my head. I am very conscious that both
Karl and Lauren feel a huge sense of responsibility towards keeping me safe too, I hate that they have this
added pressure. Pilates this morning, beginning to tire a little of this twice-weekly routine, but always feel
better afterwards. Zoom chat with friend after Pilates - we discussed, amongst other things, the sense of
claustrophobia in lockdown (she recommends driving to a farm shop just to get out), making the most of the
sunshine in the next couple of days (Arctic winds forecast for the beginning of next week), learning new skills
in lockdown (her son is learning the ukulele) and online courses for Teaching Assistants (I recommended
the Microsoft dyslexia course to her). Toe feeling sore and painful walking down stairs, not convinced that a
small bone isn’t broken, but don’t think there is anything to be gained from a visit to A and E for an Xray, so
will just go carefully on it for a few days, take medical advice from Dr Internet and see how it goes. Was
reading about New Zealand this morning - they have done such an amazing job at containing the virus and
are well on the way to opening the country up after one of the most severe lockdowns worldwide. Only 21
deaths (remarkable, though obviously every one is a tragedy) and all people with underlying health
conditions. I can’t help wondering whether the air quality down there means that the population in general
has better lung health which would be an advantage with a disease like Covid. A well-spaced population
would obviously be an advantage, too, so perhaps socio and geographical factors are involved as well as
fantastic leadership from Jacinda Adern. They are talking of the NZ economy shrinking by about 8%
afterwards, compared with a predicted 16% in the UK. Perhaps Covid-19 will prove to be the K-T event of
the 21st century, but what will emerge from the ashes? Reading in the garden this afternoon, very quiet
around and about, a few neighbourly noises, but not much at all. Two planes flew over the garden this
afternoon, so unusual now that it is quite an event, but didn’t have Lauren’s flight tracking app to find out
details. Lauren has a great friend who is in the police force who confirms that crime rates are very low at the
moment (apart, sadly and worryingly involving domestic abuse - various initiatives to support victims including
shielded phone calls and safe places in every Boots store). A few problems with off-road motorbikes in parks
and public spaces and some moving on of stationery gatherings in parks and so on. Karl and two of his
housemates were approached by the police just recently whilst having a kick-about in the park and asked
whether they were from the same household.
Friday 8th May
Today is the 75th anniversary of VE Day and was marked a Bank Holiday in place of the first Monday bank
holiday in May, for this year. Naturally many events, large and small, have been cancelled, but people have
very much been encouraged to celebrate and to mark the day within their communities, at a safe distance.
Along with some other neighbours, we hung our Union Jack at the front of the house and decorated the back
garden with bunting. We took the opportunity to dress up and to take lots of photos in the garden and heard,
but didn’t see through the cloud, two tornado jets fly past. At 11am, the country observed two minutes silence,
glasses were raised at 6pm and the HM The Queen addressed the nation at 9pm, speaking of her
experiences of the war and drawing comparisons with the pandemic - the threat, the sacrifice and so on. Old
footage of Vera Lynn singing ‘We’ll Meet Again’ was played, with others joining in and the hope that everyone
at home would join in too. Lauren and I had afternoon tea in the garden, cucumber sandwiches and cake,
complete with white lace tablecloth, cakestand and tea pot. It was a lovely day and one that we will certainly
remember among the many samey days of the lockdown.
Saturday 9th May
In writing the date today, it reminds me that my husband and I (now divorced) got married 28 years ago today,
9th May 1992 - that is staggering! But still many happy memories of that day and the years beyond it, of
course. Baked flourless chocolate brownies this morning for Sarah’s birthday tomorrow - Lauren and I plan
to pop over to her house with them and a birthday card, the least we can do, particularly as she is one of the
frontline NHS workers. Long read in the morning sunshine in the garden, blue skies, warm day, gentle breeze
and a nostalgic book about farming and the bucolic English countryside between the wars. Despite the
lockdown and little variety, weekends can still feel very sluggish, definitely different to the rest of the week,
maybe because the pace of life on other days has necessarily slowed and a further crunching down of the
gears just feels too catatonic altogether. As long as I have a sense of purpose to my day, I am fine - so
baking this morning and a trip to Waitrose to collect my John Lewis order, punctuated with reading, writing
and TV will be enjoyable. In the news, the government are finally talking about introducing an enforced
fourteen day quarantine for all travellers arriving in the UK (I’m baffled that this has taken so long) and the
teaching unions are (rightly) insistent that staff and pupils can only return to schools when it is completely
safe to do so. Mark Drakeford (Wales First Minister) has eased the lockdown rules slightly, people can go
out to exercise more than once a day from Monday, still only within households, still close
to home, still socially distancing from others. I think this is a very good move, even if many people don’t go
out more than once, for others it will be a lifeline and for everyone it feels such a treat! He has made it clear
that schools will definitely not be returning on June 1st, as had been muted by some and likely not even in
June, so school staff, myself included, have more uncertainty ahead but the relief of knowing that we will not
be rushed back to the workplace too soon. Also, garden centres can reopen from Monday, with safety
measures in place, another concession which gives people the opportunity to experience a little bit of
normality whilst also being busy and active in their gardens - lots of psychological advantage here, I think.
Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland’s First Minister) has announced similar concessions and it is hoped that Boris
Johnson will be on the same page when he speaks to the country tomorrow. I think that if, as was suggested,
the four parts of the UK start to do things differently it will cause much confusion, resentment and potentially
fear - we need to be operating as a united kingdom as lockdown measures are eased, for everyone’s sake.
Sunday 10th May
Early morning yoga with Adriene - along with much of the population I suspect. Established as an online
teacher well before the pandemic, she has developed a huge worldwide following during lockdown, including
Lauren and Karl and his housemates. Classes are for all ages, numerous, free, very enjoyable and cover all
moods, physical ailments and mindsets imaginable - a lovely resource to have. Many people will be feeling
the benefits from her classes (and other similar ones) in terms of their mental health and wellbeing, but the
real effects of the pandemic and lockdown on individuals and communities mental health has yet to be
assessed. Many people are fed up with the current situation, to put it mildly, some are tempted to break
lockdown rules. In the UK, we have now completed seven weeks in lockdown. Some neighbours have had
friends to visit within their gardens and within our own family, some of the twenty-something year olds have
moved back from family homes to student houses and some are finding loopholes in the law to allow them
to see partners. What has been known as the ‘new’ normal is pretty much normal now - changes are going
to feel uncomfortable, unfamiliar and potentially quite scary. We (well, I, certainly) need to consciously count
our blessings, regularly, it is so easy to become complacent. Lauren and I popped over to Sarah’s to deliver
birthday brownies and a couple of meals for her freezer. Lovely to see her, and nice that she doesn’t have
to work today. Life on the Covid wards sounds fairly quiet and well staffed - which is a good thing, of course
- and discussions are being held across the NHS about how and when to convert wards and other hospital
spaces back to their usual status and to begin other hospital work for the many people
who are waiting to resume treatments, have operations and so on. For obvious reasons, nobody wants to
get this wrong, the timing has to be right for all concerned. As far as immunity goes, the WHO has said that
as few as 2-3% of the global population may develop antibodies following infection with Covid-19. This is
extremely worrying, not least because it means that the benefits of herd immunity once lockdowns are lifted
will not really be felt, the implication being that the disease will continue to infect at very high levels and to
cause serious disease for many and death for some, for some time to come, a frightening prospect. It will
probably be decades before real comparisons between countries can be made, in terms of disease control
measures, effectiveness of social distancing and lockdown, availability and accessibility of testing, PPE
preparedness, success of health services, lives lost, time taken to return to ‘normal’ etc, etc (not to mention
the secondary consideration of financial recovery) - contrasts now risk being snipey, critical, political,
journalistic and to some degree unhelpful. But it is interesting to hear of experiences in different parts of the
world, not least because this is probably the first time that the whole world has been ‘in the same boat’ at the
same time. Denmark appears to be successfully returning to normal, lockdown measures have been lifted,
death rates have been very low and people are more or less living a normal life - interesting that this is the
case with a country so close to so many others, unlike New Zealand, for eg - also incredibly successful in
terms of Covid control and minimal impact on the population as a whole. The Prime Ministers address to the
nation detailed a gradual easing of lockdown in England - people can be outside as much as they wish, they
can sit in the sun and meet with family members and friends from other houses, at a safe distance. The new
message in England is Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives. The rest of the UK very much and very
clearly retaining their Stay at Home message. In England, people who cannot work from home are
encouraged to go back to work, but advised not to use public transport unless absolutely necessary. Primary
schools in England are likely to begin a phased return from June 1st, beginning with Reception, Year 1 and
Year 6. Many questions ...
Monday 11th May
Inevitably much discussion of last night’s announcement, what it means for the four nations as a whole,
demand for clarity on many issues and general feeling of confusion and too much, too soon. It seems to me
that Boris’ ‘roadmap’ for recovery makes sense and will be very closely monitored, and shut down at the first
sign of the R rising, but nevertheless it seems to be premature. Has the government bowed to pressure from
the business/financial sector or are they most concerned about people’s mental health
suffering under lockdown - or have they made a massive mistake? I hope not, only time will tell. Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland remain largely in agreement and despairing of these early changes from
Westminster. My sense of injustice at people in England being able to travel to walk, go to the beach and so
on, is eliminated by the desire to take our time over lifting of lockdown measures for personal reasons and
for the sake of the community, the population as a whole and not least the NHS. A lot of people in England
are equally unhappy about the news. Lauren has friends in and around London who won’t change their
current living conditions, despite easing of lockdown, they just don’t feel comfortable. South Korea has had
a spike in cases having opened bars and restaurants, so they are locking down again and there have been
a handful of new cases in Wuhan, China, where the disease was first recognised.
Tuesday 12th May
Karl’s 26th birthday! He, plus housemates arrived on their bikes mid-afternoon for birthday cake and a cup
of tea. Because they didn’t feel comfortable coming into the back garden - which would in fact have been
much easier and perfectly doable, spacewise - we had an across the road chat, the three of them sitting on
the opposite kerb in the sunshine and Lauren and I hovering in the middle of the road and moving to avoid
traffic. Lovely to see Karl, can’t wait to spend normal time with him and to give him a hug and a kiss, great
to know that his wonderful housemates made the day special for him, gourmet breakfast, balloons, cake -
the works! They left us here to go and have a kick about with the rugby ball up at the local club. Lovely as
it was to see Karl, I am left feeling concerned about the visit and although a few neighbours have had visitors
in their gardens, this felt very public and I think we will have to rethink when another visit is planned - perhaps
just Karl in the garden. I hate that I am having to think like this but the guilt isn’t worth it. On a more positive
note, the Chancellor has extended the furlough scheme to October, thankfully for many including Karl and
Lauren, but employers have to contribute a share from July. This probably means that a lot of people will get
less than they are currently getting - and of course some people won’t have jobs to go back to at all. The
debate and criticism about lack of clarity in easing of lockdown regulations rages on - we were supposed to
be coming out of this feeling like better, kinder, more generous humans, that seems unlikely to me at the
moment because we cannot simply switch from lockdown to not lockdown and every decision taken will
garner criticism and question in some quarters.
Wednesday 13th May
Feel as if I am losing my lockdown routine at the moment and struggling a bit to keep spirits up as a result.
Fed up with same old news, same old everything and missing freedom and variety more than ever - but
remind myself to count myself lucky, and I do. I am very conscious that when both Lauren and I are feeling
fed up, things quickly take a downturn, so must strive to be positive and nice to be around! I have said it
before, but I am so grateful to have Lauren at home with me through this and feel fortunate to have had this
extra time together. My ‘look back at this day a year ago’ photo app just told me that I was at Three Cliffs
Bay on 13th May 2019 and it was absolutely stunning … if only. Just listened to a brilliant podcast about
coronavirus grief, Bryony Gordon and Donna Lancaster. One of the recommendations was a letter to
coronavirus, here goes …
Coronavirus (you are not dear to me)
I actually hate you. You appeared out of nowhere and spread like viscous poison creeping with malicious
intent into every corner, every crevice of the world (your extensive presence would be impressive were it not
so horrific and unwelcome). You are no more than an evil blight spreading distance and distress, loneliness
and loss. You are a bitter and twisted killjoy, rampant in your destruction, sucking the very life out of humanity.
You have brought our lives to a virtual standstill, you have frightened and confused us. We have been locked
down in our homes, unable to see family and friends. Special events have been cancelled, daily pleasures
and excitements lost, you are evil. People are lonely, scared, isolated and vulnerable because of you. There
is no reasoning with you, no compromise to be reached, no end to the misery you spread and the destruction
you leave behind. When are you going to leave, by the way? Or are you determined to stay and torment us,
punish us, destroy us for evermore? Are you enjoying watching us suffer, unsure what to do for the best,
how to live our lives now? Are you happy to have ended so many human lives before their time, families left
in shock, disbelief and grief? And to have created such pressure and distress for our medical services and
leadership? You must be laughing at our ill-preparedness and our feeble attempts to beat you, but beat you
we will. We will find our way back to a happy and fear-free existence where we can see our family members
whenever and wherever we choose, where we can mix with friends and enjoy each other's company face-to-
face. You won’t deny us interesting and rewarding lives, we will go back to work, we will drive to the coast
or the mountains on a whim and return home feeling refreshed and renewed. We will holiday in beautiful
parts of the world if we wish to - you won’t be able to dictate our movements or our
behaviour. My children will be able to explore the world, see their friends, go out, have fun, feel good about
life again, I will make sure of that. You are not as clever as you think, bullies always get their comeuppance.
Whatever it takes - time, grief, therapy on a global scale - humanity will beat you down and be strong, resilient,
powerful once again. Science is a wonderful thing and we have the best scientists in the world, you cannot
outsmart them for long. You are evil and unwanted, ugly and frightening and, like Voldemort, you will make
mistakes and meet your downfall. So just go - we muggles don’t want you here. Leave our world and never
return, you will never be welcome here.
I think it has helped …
The foxgloves have never been more beautiful in the garden, scattered spires of purple among the
flowerbeds, a little taste of Pembrokeshire in the spring, lovely. Tentative steps to beginning 1000 piece
jigsaw puzzle number three having had a break from puzzling, felt the need to have another housebound
activity on the go. Went to our local garden centre, Pughs, shortly before closing to pick up some compost
and a few geraniums to add some lasting summer colour to the garden. Lauren drove home so that I could
walk back along the rver, which was lovely.
Thursday 14th May
Watching less news over the past couple of days, not even a complete 6 o’clock news and Wales Today,
very much headline skimming - just not feeling that strong to hear it all and make sense of it this week, so in
self-protection mode. Lovely Pilates class this morning, really enjoyed it and felt the benefit. Lauren and I
did five mins shaking therapy afterwards - lols! Long read in the sunny conservatory, absolutely loving Among
the Barley, beautiful book. Houseparty catch-up with friend this afternoon then decided to start a garden
project, moving the big planter into the corner and planting it up with cottage garden plants to give a big
splash of colour and interest there. Quite hard work, but it will look lovely once finished. Cari rang having
had a day of NEU (National Education Union) meetings, as joint school rep at her academy in Swindon.
Much opposition to the planned return to schools for some year groups on 1st June in England and union
members have been directed not to engage with these plans, but it sounds as if many (most/all?)
headteachers and SLTs (Senior Leadership Teams) are on board with teachers, thankfully. Gorgeous
pictures online from New Zealand, where life is returning to normal - happy faces in a beautiful place, go
Jacinda! Huge turn out along our road for Clap for Carers, neighbour not only brought
his cello out to play for us but plonked himself in the middle of the road and dressed up in his white tuxedo
for the occasion - something tells me that he is enjoying the attention, but that’s okay because we are enjoying
his playing every week! Fun quiz via Zoom with the Morgans this evening along with comparison of lockdown
hair and beard situations!
Friday 15th May
Stunning blue sky morning. Fine weekend ahead and much concern in England about people travelling to
beaches and going into the sea without relevant experience or equipment - there are no lifeguards on
beaches currently and even when the lifeguard service is up and running in a few weeks or so, it will
necessarily be operating at under capacity. Residents of England are not allowed to travel to Wales to walk
or exercise and the police are very present at the border and stopping a lot of cars to make checks. Perhaps
it is time to rebuild Offa’s Dyke ... People are still not allowed to go to visit second homes across the UK and
checks on motorists continue in hotspots. Lots of gardening today, lovely to have the time and weather (and
now garden centres) to put some hours in.
Saturday 16th May
Another lovely day, lots more work in the garden, which is looking really lovely - although it is needing a lot
of watering after a long dry spell. Popped over to Karl’s with his birthday card from Athena and called in to
the local Sainsbury’s to do a top-up shop - happened to be there during a quiet spell, so no queue and a very
easy whizz around the shop which was well stocked. Zoomed with Cari this afternoon, great to see her and
we had a good catch up, during which I learnt that after all this time we have been allowed to walk at a 2m
distance with one person from another household - I was more than a little surprised, we were absolutely
certain that this was not the case. But Google and a statement from the First Minister confirmed it. Cari had
tried it, but found it quite stressful as the focus was entirely on distancing and not chatting or relaxing. In
retrospect, I have decided that although I could now walk locally with a friend, I don’t think I really want to at
the current time, my bubble is quite comfortable, if a little restrictive some of the time. It just feels ‘safer’ this
way for the time being. Watched a film and some more TV, made some dinner, usual things.
Sunday 17th May
Gardening, jigsaw puzzling, reading, catching up on some TV, reading yesterday’s paper - in general, a
relaxing day. Jones family quiz this evening, everyone had gone to a lot of effort to set interesting and varied
questions - we even had powerpoints! Highlights were the clever covid riddle (the letter ‘r’ being the answer),
Karl’s Hogwarts spell or type of grape section and (apparently) our ‘who do these feet belong to’ picture
question - a cropped picture of all the cousins sitting on a park bench from 2005. Great fun, well worth making
the effort. People have indeed flocked to beauty spots this weekend, keeping the police busy and giving
locals in those places much cause for anxiety, sadly.
Monday 18th May
Quiet jigsaw puzzling to start my day, without the radio news these days. Pilates and a Teaching Assistants
zoom call with Rebecca to talk about how things might look when schools reopen. Apart from the necessary
reorganisation of classrooms, it is clear that we will be outside as much as possible, numbers of children/year
groups will be restricted and probably timetabled to be at school over the week or fortnight, a one way system
around the school building will be enforced, the hall will be out of use, no assemblies, still some home learning
- ie many, many changes. A strategic planning nightmare for headteachers and senior leadership teams.
Despite Mark Drakeford saying on one occasion that schools will not reopen in Wales before the end of June,
it seems that perhaps sometime in mid-June may be the given date. All this is yet to be confirmed, Kirsty
Williams (Education Minister for Wales) is due to release more information this week.
The daily coronavirus death figures in the UK have dropped from the 8-900 mark a couple of weeks ago to
2-300 at the current time - still appalling and dreadful, but a clear idea of where we are currently at with this
deadly disease. So far, nearly 36,000 people have lost their lives as a direct result of Covid-19. Much fear
of a second spike as we open up from lockdown, I think that there is likely to be a spike in anxiety in mental
health problems alongside this opening up - greater than that which has come about directly or indirectly
because of the lockdown. The concern about the number of deaths within care homes and the handling of
the crisis with regard to care homes early on is being seen as a scandal and this is very much a feature of
the news at the moment.
Tuesday 19th May
Early start for working at the Hub today. The processes and procedures are much the same as when I was
last in, although we are now split into four groups, as opposed to three, and therefore using four areas of the
school. 37 children in today - more than usual. Busy in the office preparing ipads to be delivered to families
who don’t have access to IT, in order for the children to access their home learning. Lovely to see colleagues
again, one was in to paint the Nursery shed and one came in to help move some furniture. Other’s were in
for the Academy children. Chatted with Rebecca further about next steps, schools opening up and so on,
but still so much that she doesn’t know herself. Lots of questions and concerns hanging over this, but the
general opinion among school staff is very much that there is no point doing this now, so close to the summer
holidays, let’s keep this routine in place, keep contact to a minimum and begin the process of getting children
back to school after the summer holidays, when hopefully the testing and tracking system will be in place and
working efficiently. This is considered to be the best way to control the spread of the virus once lockdown
rules are eased, until a vaccine becomes available. Many scientific teams around the world working on
creating a vaccine - one of the leading teams is based in Oxford. The message is very much ‘this is not a
race against each other as scientists, this is a race against the virus’. Early work is looking promising, but
realistically it could be 18 months - 2 years at the soonest that the virus is available for mass vaccination.
Prior to this, the fastest development of a virus was 5 years for the Sars virus - so to have something ready
within 2 years would be astonishing. But very much needed for public health and for normal, safe life to
resume. A lovely early evening walk around the nature reserve following a cuppa and catch-up with Lauren.
Wednesday 20th May
Day two in the Hub, another busy day dealing with admin, phone calls, looking after the staff within the Hub
and so on. Next time I am called in to work, there is the possibility that we will once again be operating as a
school, rather than a Hub. It was good to do something different for a couple of days and to be around other
people, but it reminds me how isolating it is for Lauren at home without seeing anyone else, and she probably
needs that more than I do. Very hard times for young people.
Thursday 21st May
Zoom call with friend - she is quite worried having been told that she no longer qualifies to stay away from
school to shield her partner and I think that this news is giving her much pause for thought. Long walk up
over the footpaths of the golf club, along the lanes, across the fields over the motorway, but I missed the
lovely views from the top of the golf club since it was closed to the public - a hot, tiring and frustrating walk,
but I did manage to map out a bit more of that area for future walks.
Friday 22nd May
Zoom call with friends - mainly school chat, inevitably, when, under what circumstances and how will we be
asked to return to school. Lauren has done a Tesco shop - takes a long time at the moment because people
have to move in a particular way around the store and are supposed to be socially distanced at all times. No
tinned tuna today! Watched two episodes of ‘Hospital’, filmed at the Royal Free, London, during the pandemic
- fascinating, extraordinary, very interesting. Also watched a Horizon programme about Covid-19, feels good
to have as much understanding of it as I can, but not sure that will serve any particular purpose to me
personally. Very behind on Spanish, have let that slip, must try to get back into that routine to keep my brain
active and to come out of this having achieved something real and useful. A new picture frame arrived from
Amazon - left on the doorstep as they do nowadays - which prompted me to move various pictures around
the house. Drove over to Asda early evening, filled the car with petrol which has halved in price, currently
99p per litre - good news at last.
Saturday 23rd May
We have had some decent rain, finally, and hopefully a few more showers today - the garden is parched and
it will be a relief not to have to water for a couple of days. Discussions about lifting lockdown restrictions
across the four nations of the UK and particularly school opening dates continue to dominate the news. The
teenagers within our family cannot wait to get back to school and to see friends again. Some Year 6 children
being told that they are going back, then that decision being changed - very difficult. It will no doubt be a
tricky year for Year 7 teachers as their new cohort are going to feel very young and ill-prepared for high
school, having missed a huge chunk of Year 6 due to the pandemic. Windy bike ride, on the way back my
chain came off and I was a bit stuck as I couldn’t see how to fix it. Luckily, I just happened to be minutes
from Karl’s - gave him a quick call and he was there within five minutes or so, very
fortuitous place to need help! Between us we fixed the bike, had a catch up - bonus to see him, wasn’t
expecting to - and I was on my way. Found fabulous new series to watch this evening - Little Fires
Everywhere, read it last year, loved it, starring Reece Witherspoon and Joshua Jones - absolutely brilliant.
Kept thinking that I had seen parts of it before, such was the imagery in the book and the truth to the book in
the adaptation (Celeste Ng, author, is very involved in production).
Sunday 24th May
Busy home day, pottering inside and out, getting jobs done. Beautiful late afternoon/early evening walk up
over the meadows, everything was so peaceful and lovely, cerulean sky, new growth, birdsong and warm
evening sunshine. The push to save the Meadows from development is gathering momentum, posters,
banners, online petitions and letters to MPs. The message is; yes to a new Hospital, but not here, please
build on a brownfield site. Very much in favour of this effort - the more time I spend up there, the more I
appreciate having it virtually on our doorstep.
Monday 25th May
Yoga with Adriene first thing followed by a sunny day in the garden. Baked some date slices, mainly to thank
friend for lending us a bike helmet. But as Lauren and I tend to exercise separately, most of the time, we
haven’t needed a second helmet so I feel that I should take it back. Another family lockdown birthday today,
but as she is in London, she can meet friends and sit in one of the parks, at 2m distance, so hoping that she
has a good day. On a gloomy note, we are now as a nation up to almost 37,000 deaths from Covid-19, one
of the worst per capita rates in Europe, shocking statistics. Ongoing coverage of how easing lockdown
restrictions will affect rates of transmission, Wales still being very cautious, thankfully, we await a news
conference on Thursday this week outlining details of changes to come. Pressure is mounting on Boris
Johnson to sack Dominic Cummings, aide, who broke lockdown rules in travelling up north from London with
his family when his wife and subsequently he, became ill with the virus - his argument was that he needed
family support to look after their son. Naturally, very strong feeling about this apparent us and them attitude
when so many people are sacrificing so much every day. He gave a press conference from the gardens of
10, Downing Street and was unapologetic and adamant that he had done no wrong.
Tuesday 26th May
One Conservative back bencher has resigned over the Dominic Cummings situation, many more are strongly
objecting to the Cabinet’s support of him and demanding his resignation - as are millions of their constituents.
Very shaky time for the government, Boris continues to support his decision to travel and claims that it did
not break any lockdown rules as it came under extenuating circumstances - many, many people disagree.
Rebecca has asked for some input for her reports about my intervention children, so I popped in to school to
collect some notes, it is so long since I saw them and need a reminder of what we were working on. My job-
sharer, and I are going to zoom later in the week to compare notes and then feedback to Rebecca and John
who, along with all other teachers, have to write summer reports, albeit abridged ones this year. Called in to
friend’s to return bike helmet and to deliver date slices, lovely to see her and to have a distanced chat at the
garden gate. Her eldest daughter is a doctor in Bristol and is relieved to have come through the worst of it,
although it seems that the situation in the West Country never got as bad as they feared it would. But the
waiting, she says, was like being in a war zone - highly prepped, but not sure what for, and very stressful.
Her husband, a hospital consultant, has continued as much as possible with his outpatient clinics, over the
phone, but because of his age and underlying health issues, has not been called to work on the Covid wards.
Their youngest daughter is managing to work at home on her Masters coursework/thesis, but as with so
many young people in their twenties living back at home under lockdown, is desperate to get back to her own
flat and her own life in Birmingham. Bought some more plants from the local garden centre - went at the end
of the day, so nice and quiet and easy to move around, although plant stocks are limited because nurseries
have not been able to keep up their normal supplies. Heatwave for the rest of this week - very hot night.
Wednesday 27th May
Margie’s 12th birthday! They are off for a picnic close to home - and are able to meet up with a friend of
Margie’s in the park if they want to, which will be so lovely for her. Awake very early, continued with my
puzzle whilst I waited for the Coop to open, then walked up to get some bits and prepared a meal for later.
Best time of the day - coolest - to be out walking at the moment. Gardening this morning, very hot, lots of
watering on a daily basis at the moment. Lauren has gone on a cycle ride with Karl , and his housemates -
she is desperate to see friends and to be with people other than me and we decided that it was worth joining
them for a socially distanced bike ride for the sake of her wellbeing and mental health - there is a pay-off to
be had here. She baked flapjacks and took them with her to give to the boys. Caught
up with school work this afternoon, made notes for the reports ready for my zoom meeting with my job sharer
on Friday afternoon.
Thursday 28th June
Pilates with Cassandra, relaxing in the garden, a very chilled day. Conscious that I feel less inclined to write
so much, or to keep on top of the diary, but I guess that in itself is reflective of lockdown mood and motivation.
Because I am watching less news, there is also less to comment on, but despite my earlier sense of enormous
responsibility (!) I am aware that other sources will be available for the news and political commentary of the
day! And without doubt in a much more insightful and intuitive way.
Friday 29th June
It felt okay to pop up to the Coop for a recipe ingredient today, which I now means that I am learning to live
like this and to combine normal habits with new restrictions. Previously, I would have waited until we needed
to go and do a proper shop, and added recipe ingredients to that. Very short queue, so that made it easy,
although when I came out the queues for both Coop and the chemist were tailing back along the pavement.
Lauren feeling overwhelmed with everything - lockdown, boredom, repetition, isolation, lack of plans and
planning ahead. I wish that I could wave a magic wand and make everything okay for her. I hope that getting
through this will make us all stronger and somehow better humans in the long run - maybe more grateful,
tolerant, accepting, although these are all qualities that Lauren already possesses. Nice zoom chat with my
job sharer, who hopes to come back to school before beginning her maternity leave on October 1st, but
doesn’t know whether that will be possible. We were fully in agreement re report notes, so after some
frustrating formatting problems, I wrote them up and sent off to Rebecca. Same for John, for his class. Had
forgotten how tiresome report writing was … Lovely happy zoom chat with friend, next week we plan to catch
up sitting in the garden as we are allowed to do this, from Monday! New easing of restrictions include meeting
one other person in an outdoor space, socially distanced, close to home - not more than five miles from
home. Some people disappointed that they cannot travel further to see family and resentful of the greater
easing of restrictions in England and Scotland too - but most of us grateful that Wales are taking the cautious
route out of lockdown, the last thing we want after all the sacrifice and patience etc is to have complete
lockdown again because of a second spike in cases of coronavirus. Track and trace supposedly in
widespread use in England and Scotland, not yet in Wales - we must get this up and
running and working asap.
Saturday 30th May
Busy morning in the garden - literally pottering (with pots) about and sorting things out. I feel very proud of
the garden just now, it has never looked so lovely and is a beautiful place to be, particularly as this hot, dry
spell continues. I am watering a lot and remain conscious of the upcoming water bill, but have decided that
the extra cost is offset by the enjoyment that the garden is giving us at the current time - we are very, very
lucky to have this space, privacy and outlook. Lauren gave me a masterclass in braiding and we have each
started a friendship bracelet - lovely activity to do. Relaxed on the sun lounger and read my book (Swimming
Home, Deborah Levy). Delicious takeaway pizza and a beer in the garden for supper.
Sunday 31st May
Thousand piece puzzle number three finished this morning - my favourite one so far. So much so that I have
ordered a frame and will hang it on a wall! Enticing scene of Staithes, a Yorkshire fishing village - tempting
turquoise sea in the background and a deep blue horizon. Several garden meet-ups planned for the coming
week, looking forward to seeing people and catching up in person, but at the same time feel the need to
spread the meet ups out and to gradually ease back into socialising - it has been a long time. Reading and
podcasting in the garden and now finishing this May entry off ready for sending in. Another couple of very
hot days to come at the beginning of the week, 26 - 27 degrees here, hottest part of the UK, followed by a
slight cooling off and the chance of a small amount of rain mid-week. Very much hoping that June is warm
and dry so that we can fully enjoy seeing our friends and family in our gardens or in local parks. Karl is our
first garden visitor tomorrow - can’t wait!
June
Monday 1st June
Day one of meeting up with another household - after ten weeks. Karl cycled up and we spent a lovely couple
of hours in the shade chatting and laughing - really lovely after all this time.
Tuesday 2nd June
Busy day - friend came over for a socially distanced garden visit this morning, lovely to see her and to have
a proper catch up face to face. I visited Anne in her garden this afternoon - another lovely catch up in her
pretty and relaxing garden. Thank goodness for this weather - we can only meet with friends in the garden
or outside in another venue. Then home to meet Jack who called in to quote on a few garden jobs - a step
into the conservatory, reshaping of the lawn to make furniture easier, plus a few other things.
Wednesday 3rd June
Kirsty Williams, Education Minister for Wales, announced that all children would be returning to school at the
end of the month - a big departure from arrangements in the rest of the UK and a shock to us all, I think.
Unions are not happy, same for many staff, the general feeling is too much, too soon. We will learn more
about our own school from the headteacher tomorrow. A very wet and chilly day - put me in a very bad frame
of mind after the recent sunshine and outdoor living - and no jigsaw to do.
Thursday 4th June
Zoom call with Rebecca and TAs this morning, slight confusion getting in to the meeting - too many numbers
- but finally joined and heard a little bit about how Rebecca envisages school working from 29th June.
Essentially, children will be in a pod of ten and will attend school once per week for the remaining four weeks
of the academic year. One teacher and one TA will stay with that ‘pod’ throughout the day, for lessons,
breaks and lunches. Start and end times, break and lunch times will be staggered to allow for as little potential
contact between pods as possible. For the remainder of each week, children will continue with their learning
from home. Google classroom, which will enable teachers to teach children virtually, is a likely next step for
our school, as this system is likely to be in place for some time. Fridays will be used to deep clean the school,
teachers will work from home on their home learning packs and contact with children at home. There is a
huge amount to set in place in the next three weeks, but the hub is likely to continue right up to that time,
making preparation quite tricky within our school and very last minute. We do, however, have the advantage
of having operated as a hub school throughout, so some aspects which will be very unfamiliar to other schools
and staff may be easier for us to implement. I feel quite anxious about returning, but have to trust that our
SLT will do everything in its power to make school a safe and happy environment. We anticipate that much
of the return to school will be about wellbeing and gradual easing back in - at least then
we have prepared for a return in September for most children. There is no indication what proportion of our
families will choose to return at the end of June - parents are not obligated to do so and will not be fined for
keeping their children at home. Many concerns still exist within the community - track and trace isn’t fully
operational yet, we have no vaccine and as far as some senior scientists are concerned, opening up to this
degree is simply too risky, so this does not fuel me with confidence. The R rate is between 0.7 and 0.9 in
most areas of the UK, we are told, this will be closely monitored. Lauren and I did our first drive and walk,
within five miles, a lovely treat, blowy day up on top with great views in all directions. Colleague popped over,
but too chilly to sit in the garden, so she pulled up by the driveway and sat in the car while I stood on the
drive - she loved her birthday present, phew! Also another friend’s birthday today, K visiting her at home
which will have been a lovely treat for her.
Friday 5th June
Pilates class this morning after some cleaning and cooking. Lauren off for a picnic with friend. Friend called
down to return a cake tin, but unfortunately I missed her, we will meet up next week. Covid deaths in the UK
have passed 40,000. Protests in the US and across the world, mainly peaceful, following the death - murder
- earlier this week of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis by an arresting police officer. Horrendous
and has naturally sparked outrage and reignited #BlackLivesMatter. The Cardiff branch of BLM is holding a
meeting here tomorrow, peaceful and socially distanced, in the Park - Karl and Lauren and friends are going
along. I shall be there in spirit, as we have a uni friends 60th birthday zoom planned surprise. It will be both
interesting and strange to see people (and perhaps even nice!!) some of whom I haven’t seen for forty years.
Completed a survey from the NEU about the proposed return to work - gauging confidence levels, what we
feel we need, how we feel about it all etc. Took the opportunity to ask about redundancy packages for
older/vulnerable/shielding staff who may just decide that enough is enough - thinking of retiring soon anyway
and the thought of so much change and uncertainty ahead is just too much, I definitely fall into this category
and cannot possibly be alone. I hope that I get some sort of response - surely others are asking too?
Saturday 6th June
Friend rang from Anglesey this morning - so lovely to hear from her in response to my WhatsApp message
inviting her to join the surprise zoom call this afternoon. We picked up exactly where we left off when I last
saw her in Anglesey the summer of Lauren’s foot accident - twelve years ago? We had
a laugh about preparing for this afternoon’s meeting (my friend is even more out of touch than me), compared
lockdown hair and what the children were up to. Felt obliged to do a quick home hair colour, slightly nervous
about the call later. Need not have worried, it was great fun and genuinely nice to see and chat to people. A
few others I had never met, but all very jolly. There is talk of a proper party reunion later in the year, possibly
in London hosted by hotelier and ex-Aber student.. Karl and Lauren attended the Black Lives Matter protest
in Bute Park and it was reassuring to hear that, in Cardiff at least, people were respectful of social distancing
and that the atmosphere was calm. Sadly, at the end of the London protest today, there was some unrest
and violence - it also appeared that very little notice was taken of social distancing. Angela rang this evening,
we had a good catch up – Erik has tested positive to the antibody test and Angela is absolutely convinced
that they have all had Covid and are therefore resistant, which I think naturally gives her some reassurance
for the coming months.
Sunday 7th June
Early morning walk north, through the Meadows and back across the cricket club. Quite a few dog walkers
about, but had the meadows to myself, lovely. Very little evidence of cycling etiquette - the expectation is
always that walkers will move out of the way, often involving coming off the path and waiting for the cyclists
to pass, virtually no cyclists say thank you (other walkers generally do when you give way) and most
annoyingly they continue two or more abreast, barely breaking conversation, when they could easily go into
single file to make life a little easier and more comfortable for everyone. Erik and Sarah came for a drink in
the garden, having moved Sarah out of her house - the end of six years as a medical student and latterly as
a working doctor at the hospital. We will miss her being in Cardiff and the fact that it brings the whole family
to Cardiff more often. After a six week break back at home, Sarah will move into a house share with old
school friends in London and begin work as a junior doctor at a hospital there.
Monday 8th June
Yoga, baked cookies bits and bobs around the house. Lauren cycled into town. Cycled for a retail fix late
pm, enjoyed the cycling but decided that I didn’t really need a retail fix, it wasn’t as fun as I had anticipated.
Didn’t spend any money - good. Went back over all food shopping receipts and learnt that we have been
spending around £65 - £70 on average each week, for two of us. My Waitrose-Tesco comparison showed
that I may have been spending a little more than I have needed to by choosing to go to
Waitrose, but only by a few pounds, significantly less than we thought might be the case and definitely worth
it for the overall shopping experience, in my opinion.
Tuesday 9th June
Sounds as if this may be the last dry day for some time. Visited friend in her garden then had Cari to ours
after lunch. It was a big deal for Cari coming over here at this time - she has been very cautious throughout
lockdown and apart from shopping drop-offs at her Mum’s, this is the furthest she has been, albeit only five
miles - thankfully we are just within the five mile travel to visit friends in their gardens limit. Lovely to catch
up face-to-face, as with all friends. Like me, she is finding that the atmosphere in the community is changing
as lockdown rules are eased - the gentleness and quiet of complete lockdown is noticeably different with
regard to people, road traffic, air traffic - everything. Neither of us relish the prospect of returning to a busy,
bustly outside world - we are not alone in admitting that, for us with our privilege, some aspects of lockdown
have been restful and relaxing. Cari brought some delicious homemade cheese and wild garlic scones from
the freezer.
Wednesday 10th June
Zoom chat with friends - we have lots to discuss re latest school proposals. I emailed NEU, yesterday with
some more questions about concerns surrounding return to work - had a long email back describing the
individual risk assessments that are to take place in consultation with headteachers, so it will be interesting
to hear what more Rebecca can tell us on our zoom meeting on Friday.
Thursday 11th June
Pilates this morning, quiet afternoon, early evening walk. Much concern re the shrinking economy - over
20% over the month of April - and the repercussions of this. Most experts seem hopeful that recovery will
not be too slow and advice re investments seems to be hang on in there, don’t lose your nerve, despite
concerning investment statements.
Friday 12th June
Zoom with Rebecca and TAs this morning - a little bit more information about what school is going to look
like, the first week back will be training and re-orientation followed by three weeks of children, each to attend
in their pod on a regular day per week. It sounds as if Rebecca may ask some part-timers, myself included,
to juggle days a bit - I’m not entirely happy about this, particularly in the longer term. I have a regular paid-
for class on a Thursday and chose to work the beginning part of the week for reasons of work-life balance
and the opportunity for long weekends. But as my contract dictates hours worked per week and does not
specify days, I may not have any choice. However, I await a response from the union on this issue and will
prepare myself for a formative discussion with Rebecca, in the hope that she may be able to offer me some
choice. As I know of other TAs who like the idea of breaking the week up, I am happy to fight my own corner
without feeling selfish about it.
Saturday 13th June
Lauren’s hammock arrived today, unexpectedly early - extra birthday present for August. She was thrilled,
put it up straight away and spent much of the day reading in it - best present ever, apparently! Spoke to
friend today, she sounds well and is looking forward to seeing family tomorrow, going to the hairdressers
soon and being able to do click-and-collect Sainsbury’s shopping very soon.
Sunday 14th June
X and X rang from the car en route to visit X, first time since lockdown began, so a very exciting day for
everyone. X plus the Morgan’s are forming a bubble, meaning that they can each visit the other in their
houses, can stay overnight and generally get together in a more normal way, SD not required within the
bubble. Lauren met friend in Roath Park for a walk and catch-up. Quiet, relaxing afternoon reading in the
garden and an early evening walk.
Monday 15th June
Lauren and I extended the rules slightly today and went for a lovely morning walk at Barry, well before it got
busy. Walked around the front from The Knapp to Jacksons Bay and back - absolutely gorgeous, a beautiful
day. Saw a couple of small planes, but no passenger traffic from Cardiff Airport. Shops in England (non-
essential) opening from today, huge queues in many shopping centres as people flock to get their first real
retail fix for three months. In contact with Airbnb re house rental for July, which was to
be part of my 60th celebrations - it seems likely that I will get a full refund, thankfully. The second birthday
cancellation thanks to Covid, but hey ho, we have so much to be grateful for.
Tuesday 16th June
Baked a poppy seed and lemon traybake today - super easy and very tasty. Lauren cycled to Penarth and
back over The Barrage before it got too hot. Karl and friend spent the afternoon with us in the garden and
left just in time to miss the first shower which we will be grateful for to lower the humidity which has built over
the last few days. Then the skies cleared and my evening walk was in very pleasant sunshine. I am still
conscious of the change in atmosphere out and about - news pictures showed long queues and crowded
shopping centres in other parts of the UK, but just the general preparing for the new normal in Wales has
affected so much - we hear the motorway, more trains are running, people are definitely behaving differently.
I am not alone in missing the gentle nature and peace of earlier in the lockdown. I guess it came initially from
a place of fear and uncertainty, but many people adjusted as time went on and the peace was a real relaxing
of the world, certainly around here. You could almost feel humans taking a backseat to the natural world as
it began to reclaim space and time, skies and earth - I loved that feeling.
Wednesday 17th June
Watched Lives in the Wild with Ben Fogle this morning - not my favourite episode, but some of them have
been so good. Many of the people he visits have in common a desire to take more care of the earth and so
on, which seems particularly pertinent at the current time. Yoga with Adriene, then a zoom catch up with our
Virtual Coffee Group. The UK still ranks very high in terms of Covid-related deaths worldwide, but things are
desperate in Brazil currently and there is talk of a second wave in China, specifically Beijing. Two sisters
from the UK travelled to New Zealand this week to visit a dying relative, but unfortunately took coronavirus
with them - all sorts of implications just as there is a glimmer of international travel opening up again. Covid
deaths in the UK have now reached 42,000 but excess deaths (above the norm) for this period are in the
region of 65,000. Horrendous. Various reasons are being debated as to why the death toll is so high in the
UK including a late lockdown, infections out of control for too long, not all deaths counted from the start,
missing symptoms, failure to test, track and isolate - criticism of decisions taken by government will no doubt
continue for many, many years - whilst mistakes probably were made, I think that any government would
have got things wrong and the chances of any government in the world being fully
prepared for such a pandemic to hit is completely unrealistic. Forbes wrote a fascinating article about the
fact that the countries with the best coronavirus responses are all led by women - NZ, Germany, Taiwan,
Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland. Very, very interesting. Zoom catch-up with the Morgan’s this evening
– the son in Year 10, had his first day back at school today, he very much enjoyed seeing friends but only
has three more attendances before the summer holidays - ‘blended’ education is the term being used to
describe this mixture of school and home learning. Evie, also Year 10, has a twenty minute well-being
meeting with her year head and parents - then continues with home learning only for the remainder of term.
I have been told that my role for the final three weeks of this term will be two days supporting a Year 3 class
and one day in the school office. I also have to attend a training day in the week before the children return
for their weekly visit and will probably be involved in setting up classroom areas too. Heavy rain and thunder
this evening and overnight.
Thursday 18th June
Pilates class with Cassandra via zoom this morning - very enjoyable, even though it was the last thing I felt
like doing when I got out of bed! Solid rain for most of the day, but the garden looks refreshed and the
humidity is beginning to drop. Lauren and I created a new exercise/yoga space for her to use in the garage
- very satisfying to have a good clear out and tidy up in there and it has made a great space, ideal for Lauren,
it has everything she needs and will be cool when it is hot and obviously dry when it is wet.
Friday 19th June
Friend came over for an afternoon walk around the river, canal, meadows which she knows well from growing
up nearby. Not a long walk as she had to get back, but nice to see her. Caught up with friends via WhatsApp.
A friend of Lauren’s and (coincidentally) friend of Karl’s from local Labour party, cycled over for an evening
garden visit with Lauren, really nice to meet her at last.
Saturday 20th June
Bacon and eggs and an invigorating - a little yoga at the top! Great views in all directions, despite clouds.
Popped to Halfords to get Lauren a cycling helmet so that we can go out together - navigated our way around
the shop following a slightly confusing system of arrows etc and had to buy without trying on, as per rules
(but having measured heads, all was good). Finished my book, stood in a long queue
outside Coop to get some bits we needed, helped Lauren set up the fire pit etc for friends’s visit this evening.
The girls had a windy and pretty smokey evening in the garden, but had a great time - lovely to see friend
and to catch up after a long time. Michael rang this afternoon (Dad’s cousin, my godfather) to thank me for
a letter in which I had enclosed a copy of the VE Day photo of his family and Dad’s family together in
Southampton. Lovely chat with Michael about those days and this and that, I am very impressed that he still,
in his early 80s, regularly swims in the sea, close to his home.
Sunday 21st June
Lauren rang the police late last night to report a burglary across the road, where two people attempted to
take neighbours paddling pool from their front garden. The police did a drive by just after the couple had
disappeared up the road - whether they took or dumped the paddling pool, we aren’t sure. Lauren popped
over to tell our neighbour’s this morning, they had in fact still been up, watching TV, but had been completely
unaware. They were grateful, but didn’t seem unduly concerned about the loss of the paddling pool - no
doubt Amazon will deliver another one by tomorrow pm, in time for our next sunny spell. Quiet Sunday
catching up with washing, reading, preparing for a couple of work days at the beginning of the coming week.
Another dry and warm week to come which will be welcome after quite a wet spell.
Monday 22nd June
Working in the Hub office today - busy today with all the usual Hub jobs and many phone calls from parents
about the return to school following the announcement that the extra week into the summer holidays would
not now happen, so the end of term would revert to the original date. Enjoyable day, lovely to see people.
SLT looking very tired, still having to work all hours to juggle Hub, school return, etc, but everything still
running very efficiently. Rebecca and I discovered that we both have connections with Southampton and
that many of our family worked in the Southampton Docks - extraordinary to think that they may have worked
together, or even perhaps been friends.
Tuesday 23rd June
Second day in the Hub - particularly busy today as there was much confusion over an email explaining which
days children would be returning to school. Dozens of phone calls from frustrated parents - many of whom
just needed to be a little more patient or to read to the end of the email before picking up
the phone to ring the office, but hey ho! By far the majority of children will be returning to school, so it has
been an enormous feat of organisation to match up siblings, days, year groups, Hub days etc to make it all
work. Our Hub will continue to run alongside school, only for Academy key workers children now but they
will be joined by children of school staff, so we expect numbers still to be high. The Hub will have to work
slightly differently and will be split between two currently unused areas of the school building - another steep
learning curve as the children arrive on Monday morning. Enjoyable two days - once I am busy at school
any anxiety about being back quickly dissipates and I am looking forward to our new normal.
Wednesday 24th June
Was expecting a phone call this morning from HSBC to discuss investment options, but frustratingly this
didn’t happen due to an admin error. As financial markets around the world crash, I do have some concern
about some loss of funds at this stage of my life, so hope to get some advice about the possibility of better
returns elsewhere. Hottest day of the year today, 30 degrees in Cardiff, so a quiet afternoon reading in the
garden. Lauren received an email from one of the tutors with regard to starting her PGCE in September and
was told to expect things to be very different. Students will be working from home, tutorials and lectures via
video link, there may be the opportunity for one or two face-to-face meetings by January, but no guarantee.
Teaching observations would be via Skype and in a nutshell, it sounds as if it could be a very lonely year, not
to mention how hard it will be to be motivated and to complete assignments. Lauren, for all the right reasons,
has decided that it will probably be best to defer the year and to get a better experience - and frankly better
value for money - in the next academic year. As her friend said, £9000 to sit on your laptop at home? Crazy
times. I fully support her decision and her preference to reapply next year for the Primary PGCE course.
Dropped Lauren off at Sophia Gardens to meet friend in Bute Park mid pm and she walked back mid evening.
Very hot night.
Thursday 25th June
Pilates first thing, too hot for any exercise really. Zoom call with friend who is super excited about returning
to school, having been at home shielding her husband since lockdown began. Cardiff reached 33 degrees
C today, topping yesterday, finding it hard to function normally with high humidity as well.
Friday 26th June
A little rain overnight, but humidity remains high. Friend came for a cuppa in the garden, she is very anxious
about her return to work on Monday and seemed to have a lot on her mind. Zoomed with the Virtual Coffee
Group this afternoon, had a laugh and the usual chats about school and life in general. Went to Waitrose
towards the end of the day, an easy and quick shop, straight in and very few other people shopping at this
time, thankfully. Karl and the boys have gone to Dorset this afternoon for the weekend to stay with one friend
and his girlfriend in their lockdown house - I don’t condone their decision as it is breaking the rules, but all
the same wish them a happy and fun weekend. X has had a very nasty injury which is going to require quite
a lot of ongoing medical attention - she has been badly clawed by a dog whilst walking in the park and
sustained a lot of skin and flesh damage to her calf. Such a shame as she has settled so well in the new
house and having created a bubble with X and family, life was beginning to open up a bit after lockdown, but
this will be quite a set back I think, unfortunately.
Saturday 27th June
We are expecting a wet weekend and there has been quite a lot of rain overnight, but again the humidity
remains high which is draining. Lots of changes to the weather as I sit in the conservatory watching the sky
and the trees - white cloud, blue skies, black cloud, rain, sunshine, a bit of everything. Feeling very tired after
the business and heat of the week just gone, so will try to have a quiet and energy-saving couple of days
before work on Monday. Thoroughly enjoyed watching Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. In the wider world,
Covid is exploding in some countries including India, South Africa, parts of South America in the same way
it did here not so long ago. Several European countries ahead of the UK easing out of lockdown have
experienced local spikes in cases of Covid, but the general trend is downwards in most cases, country-wide.
Clusters of outbreaks in several countries, including Wales, at meat processing and packing plants. It seems
likely that local lockdowns in response to such localised outbreaks will be a feature of the near future.
Meanwhile, social distancing is not being practised as religiously as it was, lots of cases of breaking rules etc
even in a small way and concerns about the slippery slope. Coastal towns including Bournemouth have been
inundated with visitors, social distancing on beaches has been impossible and last week a major incident
was declared on the south coast in response to the hordes of people. Thirty three tonnes of rubbish was left
behind - and left for locals to clear. Shocking and shameful behaviour which has also happened closer to
home at Ogmore, where police were called to deal with large groups of partying
youngsters when fighting broke out. There have also been large scale fights and illegal parties in parts of
London with many injured members of the police and public.
Sunday 28th June
More rain overnight and this morning, but at least the humidity has dropped so the air is more comfortable -
some places in the UK have dropped in temperature by 12 or 15 degrees in a couple of days. Walked with
Lauren this morning locally, quiet afternoon at home.
Monday 29th June
First day of the new hub today as we prepare to welcome pupils back into the Academy Primary School. The
hub will now be split into two areas, and will operate between our school Nursery and the other building. All
children will now be from our school, made up of key workers children as well as the children of staff, most
of whom have now been called back to school. Each child who is returning for their days over the last three
weeks of term will join their class for one day and have access to the hub on other days, as needed. Staff,
in most cases, have a slightly reduced working week leading up to the summer holidays. Busy in the office
today confirming with parents when their children are to attend school - various mis-communications - and
also dealing with job applications for the KS2 post when colleague returns to Canada.
Tuesday 30th June
Health and safety training today with some of the other TAs - lots of information about PPE, social distancing,
etc from County plus further information from Rebecca about how things would work in our school. Some of
the Y6s returned today for the first time since March, lovely to see children in school again, albeit far from
normal circumstances. We have a clearly demarcated one-way system around the school building, inside
and out, and strict regulations regarding arrival and departure from school. Every area is stocked with
handsanitiser and cleaning products and there are clear rules about the use of PPE and disposal of garments.
Every classroom has a ‘sneeze bin’, all tissues to go in these, to be emptied daily and then kept for 72 hours
before disposal - country wide regulations. Every detail appears to have been thought through, including
children being directed to fill the few seats in the classroom beginning with those seats furthest from the entry
door, in order to reduce ‘walk pasts’ as children enter the classroom. All classrooms have dedicated entry
doors from the outside and the whole of the outside area is to be divided up into class
areas. The year 6s who arrived today were very excited, a few emotional parents, but they did look a little
tired by lunchtime - probably a few sleepless nights and their earliest get-up for some time. Our first virtual
school governors meeting today via Microsoft Teams which seemed to work well, despite some of the
governors reservations. I have the rest of the week at home and return next Monday, when we welcome
some of the Y3s for the first time since 20th March. Very much looking forward to seeing the children and
getting into our new routine.